LANDSCAPE PLANNING 
FOR SMALL HOMES 



%L: 



LANDSCAPE PLANNING 
FOR SMALL HOMES 






Copyright 1922 
E. Gorton Davis 

Department of Landscape Architecture 
College o Arch lecture, Cornell Univers ty 



C1A698819 



^/3 



^ 



<V3 



CHAPTER I 

WHAT IS LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE? 

When a group of persons see parks being graded and planted, or a neighbor's 
yard being laid out, one will say that it is "landscape gardening," another calls 
it "landscape a:chitecture," and still another remarks that it is "fine gardening." 
Is it possible that any one of these terms means the same to all three persons, or 
to others? A florist may think of landscape gardening in terms of "bedding-out" 
plants and of round or square beds cut out of the lawn. A gardener or horticul- 
turist may have visions of hardy-perennial flower borders. An architect perhaps 
looks for terraces, balustrades, and formal gardens, and if these be wanting he 
feels but little concerned. Others may expect ample lawns scattered over with 
fine trees and shrubs. 

If the man who is laying out the park is asked what he calls him?elf, he may 
say he is a gardener, or a florist, or a contractor; or it may be that he styles himself 
a landscape gardener or a garden architect. However, this will depend upon 
circumstances. He may be a very succes-sful man in a small territory, as in a 
suburb of a large city, or even in several adjoining cities. Perhaps he has adopted 
the title of the man from whom he learned the rudiments of his profession, or from 
the custom of the school at which he prepared himself. But whatever the circum- 
stances with respect to any individual among the multitude claiming to be of this 
profession, one finds little uniformity in the kind of work they do, in the scope of 
their activities, in the name by which they designate their profession, in their point 
of view, and in their training and preparation. Is it to be wondered, then, that 
the public looks on with some skepticism and with a tendency to underrate the 
profession? 

To return to the scene of the neighboring yard which is being laid out — to the 
crowd that gathers on the sidewalk to watch the work going on inside the fence. 
To most of these this landscape gardener or landscape architect is merely the man 
who "plants bushes." Some have noticed that he also makes roads and walks, 
but to the crowd this seems unlikely. Others say that he has trees and shrubs for 
sale. But some one ventures the remark that his bushes are procured from a 
nursery, and the same individual is also quite certain that this man, whose func- 
tion is so much in question, only makes plans and looks after the work. Another 
onlooker remembers that a large place nearby had been laid out a few years ago, 
and that there a great number of workmen had been employed all summer. There 
had been a boss who hired the local contractors to do the grading, the road- 
building, and to lay the drains. Near the house had been constructed a formal 
garden with walls, steps, flowers, and a pool of water. Carpenters had built a 
fine fence all about the place, and, finally, quantities of trees and shrubs had been 
planted everywhere about the grounds. Some remembered that periodically a 
well-dressed man from a distant city had made visits, and had been seen talking 
with the boss and with the owner of the place. But what was the use of all this 
expense, when one could get ideas from the magazines and hire a local man to do 
the work? 



There is always a curious crowd, and of course its speculations are not always a 
true indication of public opinion. However, a far more intelligent point of view 
on the part of the public is much to be desired regarding landscape architecture — 
what it is, and what it may do for every home owner. The public is more than 
curious. It is genuinely interested! Most home owners, regardless of station 
or income, desire to make their surroundings more attractive, and most of them 
actually attempt it, although perhaps not with very great success. However, 
of those who desire attractive yards, how many realize that at the same time 
their yards may be made more useful and more convenient? 

This general interest has grown to such proportions that the nurserymen have 
for some time been pressed, by those buying plants, to give advice for their arrange- 
ment and planting. In many cases there is no one else at hand to furnish such 
advice. Some nurseries have tried to sidestep this question, others have refused 
to give any suggestions, and others, seeing therein an opportunity to increase their 
sales, have established landscape departments, with or without charge, according 
to what has seemed most feasible. Some landscape architects complain that the 
nurseries should not undertake landscape work. But most professional land- 
scape architects do not want, and many will not even accept, what is termed 
"small business," as they say it does not pay. So here is a demand for a much- 
needed service, with no competition, and with little interest shown by those best 
able to supply the need. 

To the nurseryman and the florist, the requests of their patrons for advice in 
planning and planting appears as an obstacle to their sales. The gardener accord- 
ingly takes down his florist sign and puts up one which reads "landscape gardener." 
He has observed the work on large places in his vicinity, and keeps an open eye for 
ideas. As small jobs are abundafit, he finds plenty of practice, and with this 
comesconfidence. Similarly, the nurseryman receives calls from nearby residents 
who say they would like some shrubs., if men can be sent from the nursery to 
plant them. As he is a business man, he meets the demand — he adapts himself 
and his organization to public demands. To do this adequately, he must find 
someone capable of taking the responsibility of giving advice and of directing 
planting operations. Of course he must make this new man pay, possibly by 
increasing the charges for his stock, by charging an extra fee for his services, 
or by materially augmenting his nursery sales. The new man must in some way 
earn his salary. Moreover, he himself wishes to make good, and so goes after 
business, and also after larger work on larger residences. Eventually he reaches 
out for the big estates which the landscape architect has hitherto considered his 
legitimate and exclusive field of activity. 

It cannot be expected that the man whose main interest, training, and experi- 
ence is that of growing and selling plants will also understand the theory of their 
design, and the arrangement of plants is but a part of the whole operation of 
planning, or, to speak more technically, of "designing." Designing includes not 
only the arrangement of plants, but of all objects and areas within a property. 
The man of ideals, the artist trained in design and especially in landscape design , 
should best know how to deal with the practical as well as with the artistic possi- 
bilities of any piece of land, park, or residence, as these fall within the scope of 
design The work of the landscape architect requires a special genius, training, 
and experience, just as does that of the nurseryman or of any other business or 



profession. But if the artist will not accept little jobs, where can persons of mod- 
erate means obtain the best advice? 

In general business there is to be seen a parallel to this situation. There are 
many kinds of stores, some making sales of large values, and others of smaller 
values but in greater volume. Business men have found a way of making satis- 
factory profits not only from large sales but also from a great volume of small 
sales. Perhaps it is not reasonable to draw a parallel between general business 
and the practice of an artist's profession. It is to be hoped, however, that in a 
measure this comparison is possible, and that it will succeed in interesting design- 
ers in the small-residence problems and in their possibilities. Indeed, those who 
may undertake to deal with the thousands of small -residence jobs will very likely 
discover that a business of great volume awaits them. 

But why, in the past, have landscape architects failed to handle small jobs with 
profit? It would be a difficult and tedious task to make a searching inquiry into 
the small- job experiences of those men who are today the representative land- 
scape architects ; nor could a single person speak for them all. Until comparative- 
ly recent times, no one wanted their services except a few persons owning expen- 
sive homes and whose opportunities in life had shown them, at home and abroad, 
the possibilities of beautiful artificial gardens or of parklike scenery. Travel, 
especially in Europe, has always been limited to those of means, and not all of 
those who see and know about fine gardens become sufficiently interested in them 
to want them. Persons who wanted fine gardens and could afford them, until 
quite recently, were few and far between. To reach these individuals, the land- 
scape architect was subject to heavy expense in travel and to considerable loss of 
time. In preparation for his profession, a long period of study and varied experi- 
ence at home and abroad had been necessary. Furthermore, as a business venture 
the profession was a precarious one, promising at best no immediate success, and 
requiring a number of years for the establishment of business on a paying 
basis. In the past, only a man of means and of great interest in his chosen pro- 
fession could afford to become a landscape architect; and it is evident that he 
would necessarily have to charge a considerable amount for his time, whatever his 
services. 

In recent years, the employment of either a landscape architect or a local garden- 
er to do the grading and planting about new buildings has become the common 
practice. The work is not all good, but the plants are pretty! The thousands 
of families that are constantly filling up new subdivisions in all the cities see 
other "pretty" front yards or larger estates, and desire to follow suit. Here is the 
new demand for landscape advice — from the small -home owners. Is this demand 
for really good advice, or is the call merely for the untrained opinion of the local 
gardener or of the nursery-plantsman? Among the owners of small homes, as 
well as among the wealthy, there are many persons having comparatively little 
feeHng for art. They have not had time to develop such an appreciation. Most 
persons like good landscape work when they see it, but they may not so understand 
and appreciate it as to be able to distinguish the good from the poor. No ap- 
preciable difference may be noticed by the layman between the work of the 
skilled designer and that of the man trained only as a gardener, especially if the 
examples of both types of work are not sufficiently near each other to make the 
contrast indisputably evident to even the uninitiated. The idea that the 



gardener can give more attention to the practical details of planting appeals. 
Also, the charges of the local gardener are more consistent with the reasonable 
expenditures for work about the small home. 

Persons of somewhat broader experience and who perhaps have seen good land- 
scape work, say they "want the best advice," and they engage some recognized 
landscape architect. Not unlike Americans of all classes, they spend a little 
more on their house and its furnishings than they had originally planned, and as the 
whole business approaches completion it becomes necessary to lessen expenses in 
every possible way. They want all the attractive features proposed by the 
landscape architect; but as the work progresses, due either to under-estimating 
on the part of the landscape architect or to their own over-estimating of their 
resources, curtailment of the work becomes necessary. In the eyes of the archi- 
tect, his work, thus terminated, is unsuccessful. 

In other instances of small residences done by landscape architects, the cost of 
maintaining them, after all is finished, has proved to be too great a financial 
burden. If landscape work is neglected for want of means or for want of skilled 
gardeners, especially while such work is new and immature, it is natural for the 
landscape architect to be disappointed; and surely such examples of his work do 
him no credit. It is safe to say, furthermore, that most landscape architects 
have found that it is more difficult to procure good gardeners for small places 
than for large ones. 

In other cases in which the landscape architect has been engaged for such small 
jobs, there have arisen difficulties over professional charges, which, to the small- 
home owner, seem unreasonably large, especially when, toward the end of things, 
circumstances become somewhat colored by his worry over his bills. Yet the 
landscape architect may not have charged so much for these small plans as lor 
larger ones , although his visits took just as much time as did those for his larger 
jobs, and although most likely he had akeady made considerate reductions from 
hi? customary charges. In the past he had met with clients of ample means who 
did not appreciate his work, and with others who required a great deal of redraw- 
ing of their plans. Even some of his larger and most successful jobs had deteriorat- 
ed for want of good gardening. But in the case of these large jobs he had at least 
been well paid for his services. Thus it has come about that, all things considered, 
the landscape architect is likely to regard the little job as only "much ado about 
nothing." 

There are examples of small homes well done, but they are few and far between. 
Unfortunately, not homes of the same size and cost, but rather the larger and more 
elaborate residences are selected as models for the smaller ones. And if these 
larger "landscaped" homes are flashy with yellow-, blue-, and purple-foliage plants 
and resplendent with evergreens, it is these which are more likely to be used as 
models for some poor little front yard, resulting in a very much overdressed effect. 
Small homes are new problems to most landscape architects; likewise, the land- 
scape architect is still somewhat of a stranger to the suburbanite and the com- 
muter. 

After all, how many persons understand the advantages of good landscape 
planning? It is much to be feared that, to the average home builder, "landscap- 
ing" is but a part of the beautifying of his home; hence to him it is still but a 
luxury. But nothing is too good for him, and the only questions are "how much 



will it cost?" and, "how far can I aflford to go with it?" This attitude, as well as 
the misunderstanding which causes it, is probably general. Does the average 
person have any idea that these developments, this landscape planning, may 
have any practical bearing upon the usefulness, the convenience, or the value of 
his completed home? It should be understood that grounds of limited extent may 
be planned to be useful as well as pleasing in appearance. Also, is it not quite 
possible that some plans are better than others? The achievement of both use- 
fulness and beauty through careful planning is not supposed, by the average un- 
derstanding, to lie within the scope of landscape work. 

The work of the landscape gardener or of the florist has been concerned with 
appearances, the covering up of ugly things, the pretty arrangement of plants, 
the making of smooth lawns, and the like. It is not generally understood that 
good planning looks primarily to the economical use of space, and to the reason- 
able arrangement of parts and objects which are related. A well-planned house 
may have individual rooms of the same size as those of a poorly planned one; 
and furthermore, the first house may contain less total floor space or less cubage 
than the other and thus cost less because it is more compact. The well-pJanned 
one would also be more convenient and better in appearance. And all this re- 
sults from careful planning. The same principle applied to small yards will be 
equally effective, and the need becomes greater as the yards become smaller. 
But more of this later. That planning is both useful and beautifying which the 
landscape architect aims to accomplish. 

It might be well, at thib time, to explain from whence came the name "land- 
scape gardener." Landscape architecture has a history, and thereof this explan- 
ation is a part. 

The term "landscape gardener" was first used about 1785 by one Sir Humphrey 
Repton, an Englishman, who determined to become an advisor to those wishing 
to layout or to improve their country estates. According to his explanation, the 
word "landscape" was used to distinguish his profession from that of a gardener, 
and also it referred to the kind of scenery to be made, namely, the reproduction 
of the pictures of landscape painters, for the painting of rural scenes was just then 
coming into vogue and arousing great popular interest. The fad which resulted 
was that of having picturesque and rural scenery about houses, instead of the 
formal gardens of old. Several gardeners had leaped into fame for their sup- 
posed ability to make imitation rivers and picturesque, rural si^enery, where be- 
fore there had been such stately settings for great buildings as imposing court- 
yards, terraces, and fine gardens. Repton wanted to do better in the making of 
such scenery. He stated his intention to be that of reproducing the pictures of 
landscape painters in real scenery, or, at least, of applying their ideals to the 
composition of scenery about the great houses of the English country estates. 
Furthermore, in coining the title "landscape gardener," he wished to do two things 
— namely, to distinguish himself from, and to set himself above, the gardener, 
and to express some connection with artists, whereby he would commit himself, 
in his work, to the studv of their landscape pictures and the principles that govern- 
ed their compositions. This was his explanation of the term as he used it, and 
under this title he practiced his profession. 

Repton was a man of good education and of some means. His father was a 
merchant, and this vocation the son likewise was expected to foUow. He lived on 



the small rural estate left him by his father, and perhaps it was while living there 
that he developed his interest in rural scenery. However, mercantile business 
failing, to quote from a biographical note: 

The possibility of turning to advantage that natural taste for improving the beauties of scenery, 
which had formed one of the dearest pleasures of his rural life, suggested itself to his mind one night 
when anxiety had driven <;leep from his pillow. The scheme which at first seems to have entered 
his mind with almost the vague uncertainty of a dream, assumed a more substantial form, when, 
with the return of day, he meditated upon its practicability. With his usual quickness of decision . . 
he spent the whole of that day in writing to his various acquaintances. . . .explaining his intention of 
becoming a "landscape gardener," and he lost not a moment in bending his whole mind to the 
acquisition of such technical knowledge as he thought necessary for the practical purposes of such 
a, profession. 

Previous to the time of Repton, in fact for nearly a quarter of a century before 
his birth, there had existed in England an almost universal predilection for 
naturalistic scenery in the place of formal gardens; and in many cases, gardens 
hundreds of years old, surrounding equally old houses, had been destroved to 
make way for this picturesque scenery. Today it is recognized that this was a 
mistake and a misfortune, in spite of the fact that some of the estates thus "im- 
proved" did not even date back to the time of King Charles II (1668), and were not 
nearly so good as those of the Tudor times (1500- 1600). Advocates of this "new 
Style," however, were not discriminating: all that was condemmed as "formal" 
was swept away to be replaced by the picturesque — a style of equal artificiality 
had they but stopped to realize it. 

Repton took the stand that, adjoining the houses, some conventionality was 
desirable, and that not all should be "landscaped." For that day and time, this was 
a wholly commendable stand for a man in his position to assume; but apparently 
he did not Hve up to it. Yet remembering that he was trained to be a merchant 
rather than a designer, it is not surprising that he was somewhat influenced by the 
taste, or want of taste, of his day. He was in fact, an able man, whereas the other 
advocates of the natural style, who had preceded him, were mostly mere adven- 
turers and opportunists taking advantage of a passing fad. And for a certainty, 
Repton took his title most seriously. The following is a quotation from his 
answer to a letter in which he was criticized for assuming so ambitious a title: 

But, while you are pleased to allow me some of the qualities necessary to my profession, you sup- 
pose me deficient in others, and therefore strongly recommend the study of "what the higher artists 
have done, both in theii pictures and drawings" a branch of knowledge which I have always consider- 
ed to be not less essential to my profession than hydraulics or surveying, and without which I 
should never have presumed to arrogate to myself the title of "landscape gardener," which, you 
observe, is "a title of no mean pretention." 

While Repton was not so wholly absorbed in the ideals of the picturesque as 
were most of his predecessors and contemporaries, most of his work, nevertheless, 
dealt almost exclusively with the pictiu-esque landscape of English private parks, 
or, as we would call them, pasttires. This type of artificial scenery may be seen 
today in our large city parks, in our golf Hnks, and in the meadows of oux large 
country estates; and it is appropriately called "parklike." It is also known as 
"landscape" scenery, deriving this name from the same origin as does the term 
"landscape gardening." 

Landscape gardening continued to prevail as the designation both of this partic- 
ular style and of the profession, until Mr. Frederick Law Olmsted (who died in 



Boston in 1890) assumed the title "landscape architect." It should be under- 
stood that, both in its inception and in its application, the term "landscape garden- 
ing" referred primarily to planting and grading operations, and also that it implied 
the use of but one style for all situations — -namely, the parklike. Thus it would 
seem that persons still adhering to this title should, to be consistent, practice 
Mr. Repton's theories — theories very good in some ways but very limited and, in 
some respects, unquestionably wrong. Today the work of the landscape archi- 
tect includes the planning of parks, of subdivisions, of park systems, and, occa- 
sionally, even of entire cities. Furthermore, the plannmg of residences may in- 
volve architectural settings appropriate for city homes, as well as those suitable 
for both simple and architecturally elaborate country estates. In such a variety 
of work, in order to suit all situations it is necessary to deal in both formal gardens 
and parklike scenery. Further, in planning and in executing designs for park 
systems, parks, gardens, and the like, one finds himself confronted by problems of 
engineering, economics, agriculture, building construction, and, last and most 
important, design. 

Hence it would seem that the expression "landscape gardening," as a general 
name for the profession or its work, is entitled to no status today, and, in fact, 
most persons so styling themselves are but gardeners and florists. With these 
distinctions made clear, perhaps a definite statement of the aims and scope of the 
profession will now be more readily undsrstood. 

Landscape architecture aims, first, to produce an economic arrangement of the 
objects and parts of a property, or unit of land; and, second, to attain beauty in 
the kind of scenery that is suitable to any particular property. These aims are 
developed, not in sequence, but simultaneously in the design. For the amateur it 
may be best to think of planning in this way — as a dual function. 

Then it is the aim of the landscape architect to plan both for convenience and 
for attractiveness s of setting. For a certainty, a convenient and compact ar- 
rangement is also the most easily decorated. In fact it is surprising how well a 
group of buildings look which have been given an orderly disposition ; or how well 
a new residence appears when the house is suitably placed, the walks and roads 
are laid to a good line, and the ground is well-graded; and this is noticeable even 
before any planting has been done or any mature or settled condition has been 
attained. The orderly arrangement, though bare of decoration, is attractive in 
tself. 

But some persons will attempt the improvement of a residence without any 
previous thought for the plan as a whole. They imagine that merely by plant- 
ing trees and shrubs, or by laying out flower beds, or by making a garden, this is 
possible. In such cases the result proves not very successful, and usually more 
planting is resorted to, with the mistaken idea that success in the result depends 
only on the amount of material planted and on its cost. A disorderly plan is 
bad enough ; but an excess of planting further clutters a yard and adds to the 
appearance of confusion. The importance of starting with a good plan would be 
appreciated by such persons if they could but see how well even a half -finished 
example of landscape work looks, even while there is evident only the skeleton 
of its ultimate arrangement. The effect is pleasing at this stage of its progress 
because it is apparently orderly and compact, and because each part is coordinat- 
ed with other related parts. It looks useful and yet has style also. An awkward 



plan may at times be improved by decoration, if its defects are thereby some- 
what hidden ; but this solution does not make it more convenient, and the result 
is seldom interesting in appearance. Careful planning is not only necessary for 
convenience, but its contribution is essential to the achievement of the beauty 
desired. 

In a collection of articles on the early history of landscape architecture, written 
some twenty-five years, ago appeared the following definition; and though these 
articles dealt largely with the extensive parks and gardens surrounding royal 
palaces, the fundamental principles expressed therein are sound: 

The art of gardening means the art of arranging surfaces of land and water, with all the forms of 
vegetation they support and all such works of architecture or sculpture as may be thought desirable , 
according to some settled design or scheme. Its productions may vary in character between the 
most formal and the most natural looking effects; and in size between the smallest bit of verdurous 
ground in a city street and the widest rural park. But they may always be distinguished by the 
fact that organized beauty has been sought in their creation. Horticulture aims at the development 
of beautiful individual plants. Economic gardening, like the sister craft of agriculture, so dis- 
poses of the surface of the ground and the individual plants that cultivation can most easily be 
pursued; but when we speak of the ait of gardening, we imply a result in which, though individual 
plants are valued and usefulness is largely served, a beautiful general effect has been the main 
concern. — Mrs. Schuyler Van Renssalaer. 

While the point of view of twenty-five years ago is somewhat different from that 
of today, nevertheless this interesting definition presents the subject very clearly, 
and is wanting only in those very practical aspects which confront landscape archi- 
tecture today in our very practical age. 

The following quotation from the diary of Charles Eliot, written about the 
same time as Mrs. Van Renssalaer's article, defines landscape architecture as, 
"the art of arranging land and landscape for human use, convenience, and enjoy- 
ment." In a letter written in 1890 he says further: "The scope and breadth of 
my profession is not often recognized. As I understand it, all conscious arranging 
of visible things for man's convenience, and for man's delight, is architecture." 
Then he quotes from Morris: "A gre?t subject, truly, for it embraces the consider- 
ation of the whole of the external surroundings of the life of man: we cannot es- 
cape from it if we would, for it means the moulding and the altering to human need 
the very face of the earth itself." Further on in his letter, Mr. Eliot continues: 

This building of convenient and beautiful structures is thus but a part of architecture. The 
arranging of these structures in streets, in neighborhoods, on seacoasts, in the valleys of the hills, 
the careful adjustment of the structure to its site and its landscape, the devising of ways and roads 
so that they may either be impressive through order and formality, charming through their subordi- 
nation to natural conditions, the development of appropriate beauty in the surroundings of build- 
ings, whether by adding terraces and avenues or by enhancing natural beauty — all this is, or ought 
to be at least, one-half of the art and profession of architecture. This is the landscape architect's 
part; for tha field is so wide that it can hardly be comprehended by one man, and two professions 
are necessary, each approaching and helping the other. 

In another letter, written in 1 896, to one whose article on the function of the 
landscape artist had confused landscape architecture with landscape gardening, 
Mr. Eliot wrote: 

Landscape architecture includes and covers landscape engineering, landscape gardening, and 
landscape forestry. A formal avenue or parkway is a work of landscape architecture; so is a well- 
designed picturesque park. The engineer and the gardener will each have his share in both pieces 

of work; but each must labor for the perfecting of the general design if a successful result is 

to be achieved. 



There remains considerable evidence of good planning in the gardens of the 
ancients, although in many cases their works seemingly were intended only to 
embellish the surroundings of buildings. If we may judge from what little we know 
of them, the works of the Romans showed more eviden e of planning than was 
apparent in the work of the earlier peoples; and this planning seemingly compre- 
hended entire properties with all the structures and areas included therein. 
On the whole, aesthetic considerations seem to have prevailed. Landscape 
planning in Europe during the Renaissance varied considerably in the different 
countries, but the most typical examples invariably show practical considerations 
subordinated to artistic effects. Modern landscape architecture has recognized 
the value of efficiency in planning. It seeks economy in the use of space and 
topography, and convenience in the arrangement of related parts, as well as en- 
deavoring always to obtain the most pleasing general effect. 

Too much stress cannot be laid upon the importance of careful planning. When 
large properties are involved, such as country estates or farms, or such public 
grounds as parks, playgrounds, or groups of buildings, the value of good profession- 
al advice is more readily admitted, since the expenditure must necessarily be 
relatively great, and the cost of the mistakes which may thereby be obviated will 
offset the professional fee. In the development of small residences, or in the 
planning of groups of buildings with but little open ground about them, the need 
for careful planning is not at first so apparent, because the amount of ground is 
small. The need of a landscape architect's advice is by some persons thought 
to vary directly in proportion to the amount of land, or area, left after the build- 
ings have been erected. One should recognize, however, that just the reverse 
is true. The possibilities may not be so great where the land areas are small; 
but, the requirements remaining constant, the problem of its arrangement and 
convenience becomes more perplexing and difficult as the size of the grounds de- 
creases. Especially in restricted situations should the buildings and grounds 
be simultaneously planned, and that by one familiar with the particular needs, 
both within the buildings and without, of the future occupant. Economy in the 
use of the small space available is absolutely essential, and convenience is still 
required. The alleviation of all appearance of cramped conditions and the 
beauty of the whole, which must still be attained in spite of difficulties — these are 
problems for the landscape architect. 

One has only to recall the almost universal disorderliness and unattractiveness 
of the settings of ovu pubHc buildings, and also the shabby yards of most city 
homes, to realize both the neglect of, and, at the same time, the importance of 
the landscape problems involved in the planning of Umited areas. To be well- 
planned is their greatest need; to so locate buildings as to permit reasonable 
disposition of the land; to plan walks and roads for convenience, grace of line, 
and the conservation of unbroken lawns; and to recognize where to use every foot 
of land sparingly and where to be generous with it — these are only a few of the 
questions which bear on the reasonable arrangement of properties. 

Summarizing, then, landscape architecture is an art of design; and the princi- 
ples of such design, intelligently applied, should lend valuable aid in the solution of 
problems of planning land areas, together with all the features they may include. 
Our home surroundings and city environments are no exception to the rule that 
beauty is generally wholesome and therefore necessary for our welfare and 



13 

happiness. This is exemplified in the general and growing desire for attractive 
home grounds. Practical planning, though necessarily the first consideration, 
may not be considered apart from the attainment of beauty, both being included 
in the purpose of landscape architecture and both being developed simultaneously 
in a design. A generally inte^Ugent point of view of the subject on the part of 
everyone, both in home and in civic life, does for a certainty, seem desirable. 

The first steps in the development of any property should look to its plan, 
and that plan should deal with the property in its entirety. Whether or not a 
yard is to be left largely in grass, the house and yard should be regarded as one, 
and planned as one. Either a lot should be selected suitable to a preconceived 
house, or a house should be designed to suit a particular lot, and of the two, the 
latter course is best. 

A house should not be planned in the abstract and then buiH on any lot large 
enough to contain it, with perhaps more or less turf about it, much as a horse is 
pastured in any lot large enough to furnish him sufficient pasturage. Unfortunate- 
ly, the attitude too frequently encountered is, "If the lot is too small or ill- 
suited, well, that is too bad, but it could not be helped!" There are no rules for 
proportions between the sizes of houses and of the lots on which they are built. 
Almost any proportion may be made practical and of attractive appearance if 
the whole is carefully planned out at the start, so that the result achieved will 
make those proportions seem to have been irtentional. 

Properties with rmaU yards most of all require careful planning, just as do 
small houses, for there is no room to waste. In any home there are certain es- 
sential features, such as the main rooms of a house. Outside, likewise, there are 
similar necessary things which must be provided, as, rich or poor, we must live 
similarly in the main essentials, and differently only in our comforts and luxuries. 
In small yards these essentials must be provided for, and it is much to be desired 
that some comforts may also be included. But is it evident that the amplitude 
suitable for the indoor rooms and for the outdoor lawns and gardens of large 
homes is entirely incompatible with small properties. It is likewise evident 
for small residences that a variety of outdoor features similar to those seen on 
large estates is neither possible nor appropriate. The scale of the human being 
must Umit all dimensions. For example, a door may be too small to get through, 
and a walk may be too narrow to be practical. When the dimensions of features 
in small yards are diminutive, the plan is impractical and the effect is merely 
petty. A diversity of features must also be avoided in small yards. They 
should be left as open as possible, with but few, and those only the necessary, 
subdivisions. 

A discussion of the principles governing the planning of small residence prop- 
erties must of necessity be subject to a considerable number of Hmitations. 
Especially must this be the case if these explanations are intended for the amateur. 
It is hardly necessary to say that planning may be done best only by one with true 
feeling for design. In any art, composition cannot be carried out by rule. Never- 
theless, the writer is convinced that some fundamentals of good planning may be 
plainly expressed in words. In the last analysis, many principles in design are 
dependent upon the needs and limitations of human beings, upon their customs 
and their circumstances of environment. All design has emanated from us — 
from our point of view as human beings; it is indeed of us and for us. It is the 



14 

equation of the human being plus his environment. We vary according to our 
hereditary and in our individual inclinations; and our environment furthermore 
varies our opportunities. But there is much common ground, and much that is 
tangible and definable. It is hoped that at least in these physical and tangible 
aspects, design may be somewhat explained and defined. 

For the sake of convenience in discussion, some classification of the various 
kinds of ettates, according to their size and situation, will be arbitrarily made. 
Although one should realize that almost every property is in a class by itself and 
is therefore also a law unto itself, there is sufficient similarity in most of the 
narrow city lots, for example, to permit of their being regarded and discussed as a 
group. Another group would include those of wider frontage. A classification 
will therefore be made, as follows: first, narrow city lots with houses of like 
widths, solid blocks, semi-detached houses (double houses), and detached 
houses with some side-yard space but insufficient for a side-yard court or garden; 
second, average suburban lots with frontage two or three times that of the house 
front and therefore sufficient for some side-yard feature ; third , country cottages, 
whose lots are apt to have a frontage greater than their depth; fourth, some 
type of farmstead. 

A comparatively level area of ground will be assumed in order that the problem 
may be simple and the explanation not unnecessarily complicated. Fundamental 
principles of the arrangement clearly suitable for flat ground will, in a later 
chapter, be discussed in their relation to more varied topography. If, from the 
simple examples used at the beginning of this study, the underlying principles 
may be clearly understood, it may later be possible to adapt them and to vary 
them intelligently in the modelling of rough or irregular land. 



CHAPTER II 

ARRANGEMENT OF NARROW LOTS 

All lots should be planned carefully from boundary to boundary, whether they 
are to be but small front and rear areas, or narrow strips of land at the sides, or 
more spacious yards. Fmall yards are usually the result of high land values and 
if one has paid dearly for narrow frontage, only by careful plannmg can he hope 
for value returned. If the land was not to be used, why then was it purchased? 
Rear areas are apt to become catch-alls for rubbish unless they are adapted to 
useful purposes. Use, however, is likely to invite care and neatness, and neatness 
alone is often a satisfactory solution for the small-back-yard problem 

One has to pay, for every foot of frontage, on many streets, as much as hfty 
dollars a front foot. Though the depth of the lot has some bearing on the rate, 
the principal factor is the im.portance of the street, and one pays pnniarily for 
frontage Fince one has to pay dearly for every foot, why not so plan the land as 
to derive from it the greatest possible use and enjoyment? In planning a house, 
one tries to arrange for the desired dimensions in this and in that room, but also 
observes great care in joining these rooms so that there may be no waste space in 
halls angt^lar areas, and irregularities which do not affect the apparent size of the 
house or its rooms but do add to the total cost. We should plan small yards to 
be compact and economical in the same way. 

In cramped quarters good order is especially necessary. One may not think 
his yard is in disorder, but it is quite likely that careful study of the arrangement 
will disclose possibilities of greater convenience and more spaciousness. In the 
case of a new property where the house is yet to be planned and built, the hJ-st- 
flcor rooms, the entrances-in fact, any general aspects or details of the house 
plan which might better relate it to its lot— should be taken into account. Ihe 
position of the house, as well as its outside dimensions, determmes the size of the 
front and rear areas. If the house does not e> tend across che entire width of the 
lot the use of the narrow strips at the sides should be determined and the space 
arranged accordingly. Frequently houses are found on one side of which is an. 
area of no particular use, while on the opposite side a foot or two more would have- 
made possible a much-needed walk or driveway. If lots are not very deep, so- 
that both front and rear yards must of necessity be shallow, it may be better, 
rather than to try to obtain suffcient space between the houses for side light, 
to plan them broad and narrow with no windows in the ends and to leave only 
what space may be necessary for a side passage. The better penetration of light due 
to the small front-and-back dimensions may resv It in the interiors of svch houses 
being better lighted than those of houses so arranged as to depend for some 
light from partially darkened side windows. Cf course, an architect may not 
have opportunity to thus mould the plan of the house, but forethought costs 
nothing, and, in many cases, saves mvch. Thus the first considerations should 
include a careful study of the plan of the house in relation to the lot, and its 
position thereon. 

16 



i6 





17 

In the case of most narrow lots, the house practically cuts the lot in two, divid- 
ing it into front and back yards. Where the building line is not fixed by restric- 
tions in the sale contract, one is free to place his house as near or as far back from 
the street as he chooses. The depths of the front and back yards will, of course, 
depend upon the position of the house. What considerations determine, or 
should determine, the distance of the house front from the street line and the 
amount of space necessary in the back yard? 

The building line should be fixed when the character of a street or a neighbor- 
hood is determined; but in the past this decision has ordinarily been left to the 
discretion of those who built the first houses. This haphazard pr6cedure is 
especially serious if the houses are very close together or if they join. However 
one might wish to place his house, he finds himself limited, to a considerable extent, 
by this established building line. In the earlier days of this country, it was the 
custom to place houses immediately on the sidewalk line, thus saving all the land 
possible for a garden in the rear. This practice was followed even with detached 
houses. During the past fifty years, the garden in the rear has given way to the 
spacious front lawn and the front porch affording a grandstand seat from which 
to observe all the excitement of the street. The latest tendency, however, seems 
to be a reversion toward the old idea of spacious back yards, or at least toward 
a more reasonable adjustment of space, and toward more severe house fronts. 
One cannot vary an established building line without detriment to the appearance 
of the block and possible injury to his neighbor's house as well as his own. There- 
for it is unwise to buy on badly planned- streets; and in new developments the 
purchaser should insist upon proper restrictions for the street. But how far 
back should this building line be located? 

The attractive appearance of one or of all house fronts on any street must depend 
upon a well-conceived street plan. The "front scene" is not that of a single 
yard, but of many, and includes also a part of the street itself. Therefore the 
street, in its width, kind of pavement, width of parkings, and disposal and kind of 
trees, should be considered together with the depths of the lawns, and the even 
size and harmonious character of the house fronts. All this should be combined into 
one study, in order that all parts and elements may be planned in good proportion 
and in fitting character. Deep lawns will not improve a street unless possibly the 
street is very wide and the adjoining yards and houses are likewise ample. The 
unnecessarily deep lawn only makes a narrow street seem narrower by comparison, 
and will also dwarf a small house front and accentuate the narrowness of a lot. 
What, then, is the determining factor in the question of the amount of space 
needed for the front yard? What is to be the function of the yard? It cannot be 
that of a garden, as there is no privacy; nor can it be given over to any specific 
use, as in most cases front yards are not enclosed. Its purpose is merely that 
of an entrance feature and an appropriate foreground for the house. The question 
then becomes. How much land is necessary to make the house look well? 

Usually the building line should be in from the sidewalk a distance of from 
one-half to two-thirds of the lot widths. If there is any suggestion of lot bound- 
aries between the lawns, such a building line makes every lot appear wider, 
as the widths of all front yards will be their greatest dimension. And after all, 
but little space is required in a front yard, since only a walk, good turf, and 
few very trim shrubs or evergreens are necessary. There is little opportunity 



i8 

for ample lawns or landscape planting where the frontage is but thirty or forty- 
feet. Save the gardenlike features for the garden in the rear. 

These front-yard grass plots look best with the simplest treatments; walks to- 
one side rather than in the center (except for houses with symmetrical fronts and 
center doors) and always straight; good grass; and very little, but very good, 
planting — in brief, simple, straightforward treatment to the extent of severity 
makes for the best appearance of the street and also for the best foreground for 
a house. Shrubs should be used most carefully, and selected not alone for their 
flowers or for one's fondness for particular varieties, but for their fitness in the 
whole picture of the house front. Individual shrubs whose form or appearance, 
all the year around, may give emphasis to the entrance or soften the angles of the 
house comer or porch are acceptable; and of these two or three, or possibly more 
when closely grouped so as to have the effect of single plants, will be an abundance. 
The less shrubbery one can use with satisfactory effect, the better will be the 
result. There should be nothing displeasing in the appearance of the masonry 
foundations of buildings; and in fact the so-called "foundation planting" or 
"base planting," which produces the absurd effect of their standing upon bushes, 
is in no sense desirable and only detracts from their appearance of stability. 
It is true that many houses have been built too high above the ground, and con- 
cealment of this awkwardness is attempted by means of continuous planting. 
But one evil seldom cures another. If the grade line is too low, raise it. One 
should rely upon vegetation merely to soften, to give the appearance of a little 
age, and to add a touch of decoration. Too much planting cldtters a small 
yard. An area given over largely to planting looks like a garden, and the place 
for a garden is not in the small front yard of a city lot. The front yard as a whole 
should be planned as an appropriate foreground for the house front, which it 
should set off without attracting the main interest to itself. Simple treat- 
ments are therefore best. 

Houses directly on the sidewalk, with the "stoop" and high flight of steps 
which afford a good basement entrance, are not within the scope of this discussion. 
With any appreciable turf area, it is best to avoid high flights of steps ascend- 
ing directly to the front door. Steps at the sidewalk, or several flights as one 
approaches, are a better arrangement. While as a rule low doorsteps and at least 
the effect of a low first-floor elevation look best, yet, unless grades are compara- 
tively flat in these small front lawns, it is impossible to make even the merest 
suggestion of a rule for their treatment. When a house is planned, that line of 
grade across the front should be determined which is good and proper in relation 
to the design of its front. Then, if there is space for plants, which should like- 
wise be considered when the front is being designed, these will not have to serve 
as curtains, but rather will they be a part of the design. 

Usually the most important plants in the front yard are those on either side of 
the front door. At times these are all that will be needed. Needless to say, 
they should be carefully selected with a view to being as refined as possible and of 
a kind which will thrive and look well all the year round. Also should it be 
remembered that these plants are intended as a decoration for the front door. 
Avoid extremes in color and other distracting objects and, so far as possible, 
choose plants of dark, rich, green foliage and rounded forms, rather than those 
of conspicuous or striking appearance. In city situations, gaudy colors and 



19 

variegated effects are not as pleasing as somber greens and occasional white 
flowers. The flowers of course, are always transient, and the foliage and the 
winter effect are therefore of prime importance. Unfortunately, few evergreens 
will stand street dust and the abuse incident to exposed situations, whether that 
of persons or of weather. But, evergeeen or deciduous, front-yard plants should 
always be adapted to their situation, as sickly or damaged plants are by no 
means decorative. 

On some properties, hedges or small groups of shrubs look well on the side 
boundary, extending from the building line part way to the sidewalk. Preferably 
such planting in front yards should be uniform with that in all the yards on the 
street. Also one must be sure to maintain such planting in good conditiori. 
Hedges or other fences, if in character, and if in accordance with the custom of 
the street, may add considerably to the appearance of the fronts. In old cities 
and villages, "door-yards," as they were called, were always enclosed by walls, 
hedges, or fences. Whatever their size, the yards appeared larger when some- 
what enclosed, and also, being enclosed, they could be used. Any enclosed area 
seems larger because it is not then merely a part of a larger expanse by com- 
parison with which it appears diminished. In illustration of this, doubtless 
everyone has looked into the cellar of some new house and commented on how 
small that house would be, but when he later entered the house as it approached 
completion, was surprised to find it m.rch larger than he had expected. When 
the cellar was just a hole in a larger lot, it appeared small by comparison; but 
when one had gone into the house and could judge its size only by his recollection 
of other houses, then it was possible to form a fair opinion as to its size. It is 
well to enclose front yards in situations where this has become the custom. 
However, hedges are with diff culty maintained if too near a sidewalk or if, for 
any reason, they receive much wear. A hedge inside an inconspicuous fence usual- 
ly does better. But walls' and fences with attractive gates, if well done, are 
always both practical and decorative. 

Care should be taken to select only such plants as, whatever their position in the 
front yard, may easily be kept within the desired size by trimming, or such as do 
not of their own habit grow beyond bounds. It is by no means uncommon to 
see shrubs or small trees spreading over a large part of a front yard or growing 
so tall as to cover up the windows. If these are carelessly cut back, they become 
ragged. If flowering shrubs are sheared, they look equally bad without most 
of their flowering wood and with but a weak and scattered flower crop. Again, it 
is neither good gardening nor good sense to make pretty little groups with small 
evergreens, which, as they mature, become .forest trees. Most of these evergreens 
soon grow beyond the desired size and become sickly when restrained with 
shears. It is not difficult to obtain the necesssary information about plants 
before they are selected. 

Vines may well be included in the planting scheme for a house front. Their 
habits vary, however, and one should decide whether the whole front, or only a 
part of it, is to be covered; whether there should be an even and clinging sheet 
of foliage, or a loosely draped curtain, or a mass of vine growth for a roof comer; 
in brief, one must know exactly what particular effect that can be produced by 
vines is desirable. Some vines, such as the wistarias climbing up a house comer, 
have sufficient foliage, not only at the ground but all the way up, to satisfactority 



20 

dress the corner and thus obviate the necessity of a group of shrubs. Some vines 
will climb very high ; but all have very definite limits in this respect. Vines for 
fronts, like other plants, should be selected mainly for their foliage. Occasionally 
more simple and unpretentious houses take kindly to a flowering vine over the 
door. 

Too great a variety of vegetation produces a spotty rather than a harmonious 
entire effect. In planning the front yard, it is with regard to the whole picture 
of the house as seen from the street that one should be concerned. Don't mistake 
the front yard for the garden! If in doubt as to how many kinds of bushes to 
use, use but one kind, relying upon the natural variation in both the habit 
and the color value of shrubs of the same species. Dress your front yard on 
principles of simplicity. 

Thus, considering the function of the front yard to be mainly that of fiunishing 
a proper setting for the house front, one might conclude that no more space should 
be allowed than will suffice for a shallow lawn, especially in view of the fact that 
a deeper lawn may make the narrow lot appear even narrower than it is. There 
should be, however, some recognition of the building line and other prevailing 
customs of the street. On the same street, strikingly different schemes,though 
in themselves attractive and meritorious, do not look well. After all, clever 
manipulation of simple features and styles requires considerable skill on the 
part of the planner, and in the end the "landscaping" of small front yards is 
more a matter of taste and judgment than of expenditure and effort. 

Plans for back yards should be started with a full realization of the fact that a 
limited space cannot be made to accomodate features appropriate only for a 
larger area. A city back yard cannot be made a half-acre suburban garden in 
miniature. Starting with a simple plan, the next care should be to have all de- 
tails serviceable and adapted to the situation. Walks should not be narrow to 
the extent of appearing insignificant ; where grass will not grow, a suitable pave- 
ment is better; and plants that do not thrive should be omitted, as a healthy 
weed is more beautiful than a sickly flower. The situation is not an easy one with 
which to cope, but, nevertheless, the back-yard garden must look successful in 
order to look beautiful, and this is entirely possible, though only by means of a 
common-sense plan. 

The improvement of the back yard begins with the fence. Apparently there 
has never been any question of the need of fencing back yards. The American 
substitute for the old-world wall was a step backward. Wooden fences, especially 
of the high, tight-board variety, are never handsome, now-a-days not even cheap; 
they are usually out of repair, easily climbable, and, in the long run, most expen- 
sive. Where a solio barrier is desirable, a light masonry wall of some kind proves, 
in the end, the most economical, and, furthermore, it is the best looking. Vines 
growing on these walls need never be disturbed. It is easily possible to perforate 
such walls to permit better circulation of air. The wrought-iron fence is always a 
possibility and may look well if of very simple, straightforward design. The 
fence of heavy woven wire is the cheapest substitute for a permanent and sub- 
stantial fence. This must be very carefully hung to look well, and of a small 
mesh if it is to prevent climbing. But with a heavy growth of vines upon it, 
such a fence becomes practically a solid barrier though still permitting a free 
circulation of air, and this, in very small areas, is an important factor, not only 



for comfort but also for success with most plants. Height in any barrier is 
certainly essential for some degree of privacy in the yard; but a fence may be 
made high near adjoining houses and lower elsewhere, this variation in line being 
turned to a decorative purpose. Additional height may be provided in certain 
places by means of tall shrubs and trees of medium size. Arbors may parallel 
the fences and open into the lawn, thus increasing the privacy of the outdoor 
walks without materially affecting the lawn space. It is difficult to secure abso- 
lute seclusion where adjoining houses are near, but so far as possible it is essential, 
and such features may, in addition, contribute to the decoration of the yard. 

Whatever general arrangement is planned, the major part of the yard should be 
kept clear and open, and this open space should adjoin the windows or doors, 
thus serving as the main connection with the interior of the house. Cramped 
quarters require an effect of space and openness, and space in this relation to the 
house is most evident. Covered walks may, at times, be provided on one or both 
sides, and these may afford an interesting diversion after one has left the house. 
To look down such a walk from a minor window would, of course, not be uninter- 
esting, but as a rule a small house does not have many openings into a yard, and a 
view into the open must therefore be the first consideration. Likewise, for 
occasional useful purposes and for recreation, space is needed immediately ad- 
joining the house. 

It has been stated that the plan for this area cannot accomodate a great variety 
of features, and that therefore the solution must He in a few things well done. 
It will be found most economical of space and attractive in appearance if the main 
lines of the plan are drawn straight and parallel to the boundaries. Such plans 
will appear artificial; so, also, would informal effects and efforts to produce "land- 
scape gardens." The former, however, will look formal in some degree; but the 
latter will look foolish. It should be remembered that these are city gardens, 
and that therefore conventionality is more in character with their architectural 
surroundings. The practical aspect of the use of straight lines appeals strongly 
to the writer, for in his opinion, design for any purpose, in order to be good, 
must also serve a useful end. Side boundaries may consist of flower borders, 
hedges, or merely a garden of flowering vines climbing on the fence; in any case, 
a single feature should be continuous along the greater part of the distance to the 
back fence. With a feature of straight outhnes extending toward the back fence, 
the same distance will appear greater than if its ou^-hnes were curved, for simplici- 
ty and a greater scale will thereby be expressed. 

Perhaps it is important to speak in some detail concerning the practical aspect 
of the use of straight lines. To begin with, it is well to remember that the areas 
with which one is dealing will average about forty feet in width. Assuming this 
dimension, the walls or fences on the two sides will take up two feet. A heavy 
growth of vines will occupy a like amount ; and hedges, in the place of vines, re- 
quire three feet each, and, when old, still more. A vine-covered fence behind 
a flower border would, on one side, occupy a total of lofeet. This is one-fourth 
of the entire width; on the opposite side, accordingly, the minimum would be the 
vine-covered fence, or, better, a tall, fine hedge to balance, in some degree, the 
flower border. The lawn then left is but twenty-five feet wide. Now, were the 
edge of the flower border to be given a wavy line, notwithstanding that the dis- 
tance is short for the use of curves, and assuming the minimum width for flowers to 



be less than eight feet and the maximum not over ten, what would be the results? 
It should be recognized that it is difficult to maintain good effects in hardy-peren- 
nial borders with widths of less than eight feet. Since this is so, there will be parts 
of the border too narrow in width to maintain the best appearance. More serious, 
however, will be the unfortunate appearance of the open lawn which will have a 
width nearly equal to that of the bordering features. Looking from the house, 
the apparent width of the lawn will be that of the distance between the farthest 
projections of the border, while the apparent quality of the flower border would 
be that of its narrowest parts. Does not this mean a deal of trouble for a curved 
line, for which, after all, there is opportunity in neither length nor degree? Since 
the first consideration with respect to such an area should be the expression of 
openness, and of all possible spaciousness, details inconsistent with this purpose 
cannot be good. 

The greater part of the back yard should be thrown into an open lawn or court. 
Whatever the bordering features, the width of the lawn should be greater than the 
sum of their widths ; and a definite expression of spaciousness requires a subtantial 
majority of lawn area. 

In endeavoring to produce the effect of large space, there are several details well 
worth observing. Within reasonable dimensions, the higher the enclosure, the 
larger will the yard appear. The gardenlike and out-door-room effect of the yard, 
so much to be desired, requires a fence height of at least six feet. Americans 
are not accustomed to high walls, but when they make a garden, their tendency is 
unquestionably toward higher barriers. If the yard is to be enjoyed, privacy is 
essential; and at least at some points, if not all, fences should be even higher than 
six feet. Again, the effect of space in a lawn will be increased if the side borders 
have an even and neutral surface. For example, continuous and trimmed hedges 
appear longer than do rows of shrubs of different species and of varying heights. 
The ground width likewise appears greater if the surface is of unbroken turf or 
of uniform pavement rather than if broken by walks or flowers or ground cover, 
even though the last may not grow materially higher than the grass. In every 
detail, continuity of surface increases scale. 

If back yards have a depth not much greater than their width (that is, speaking 
now merely of the area behind the house), it is best to plan the whole yard as one 
scene. If the depth is sufficient to subdivide and still leave an open lawn adjoin- 
ing the house, approximately as described above, then a hedge or like barrier may 
be carried straight across the rear and the enclosure devoted to a salad garden, 
flowers, or any other purpose. Lot widths of forty feet or less will not as a rule, 
permit subdivisions parallel to the side boundaries. The apparent size of these 
yards may further be increased by placing interesting features, such as summer- 
houses, arbors, trees, or even flowers of somewhat dominant color, at the far end of 
the yard; for by this means attention is focused upon more distant points and the 
greater dimensions are thus emphasized. The element of interest in the yard is 
also thus increased, and still more is it enhanced when it is possible to present 
from the viewpoint of such an arbor or seat, an entirely different picture, such as 
a view into a small garden or merely the reverse of the yard scene. 

Few persons have the time to maintain flowers, and frequently it is difficult to 
procure intelligent care for them. It is quite possible to design interesting 
flower features with anjiuals, which may be gardened by men sent from the 



23 



florists; but more artistic ability is required to plan annuals beautifully than is 
necessary to use the hardy perennials properly, and in this country it is rarely 
well done. Nevertheless, in a small space it is possible to use annuals with better 
effect than perennials. If flower beds can be made sufficiently wide, and if the 
perennials are closely grouped, it is still possible to use a few perennials and^ at 
the same time reduce the item of care. There are, in back yards, no interesting 
assets to build upon, and one must, "out of whole cloth," create a garden. It 
may be very Hke a room, or a very formal one, or merely a trim and orderly one. 
It may be dressed with flowers or with apparently useful architectural features; 
it may be made to require considerable care, or to require but grass-cutting 
and trimming,— all entirely according to personal taste or other circumstances. 
If the opening is too small for grass, it may be paved, and thus require only 
sweeping. But, whatever the the limitations, and however it is to be used, be 
it no more than the European peasant's garden— a vine-clad arbor— the smallest 
space may be made to serve fittingly for pleasant and retired out door life. 

As has ah-eady been suggested, rather than have very narrow passages between 
buildings, it is better to have none. If houses are made wider they can also be 
narrower, thus allowing the otherwise useless space at the sides to be added to the 
well-lighted yard area. If there is the possible necessity of an automobile drive, 
either for immediate or for future use, it is worth while to sacrifice all space on one 
side in order to allow for a drive on the other. The automobile drive may or 
may not be combined with an entrance walk to lead to a main entrance at the 
side of the house. (There are advantages in such a first-floor arrangement, as 
the front is then unbroken, and may be entirely devoted to rooms needing good 
light.) Perhaps herein is the greatest possibility for the use of narrow side space. 
These strips of land between houses are ordinarily unused except for a walk to 
the kitchen, and are dark and damp, with narrow pavement and much bare 
ground. They should either serve some purpose and be prepared therefor, ^ or 
the space had better be covered by the house. There is considerable aversion 
to blocks of houses; but detached houses with but five or ten feet between them 
are no better. The semi-detached house (double house) is a very good expedient 
by which to save from three to five feet of otherwise useless side-yard space. 
Frequently with this arrangement, ten or fifteen feet may be obtained on one 
side, thus affording ample opportunity for a side entrance. This feature appeals, 
as it affords a use for the side strip of land, and insures its solution and good 
appearance. The problem of the side-yard strips in many instances means 
merely making these places look neat. With bare ground, they represent a 
failure. If grass will not grow, it may be that an evergreen "ground cover" 
will thrive; but if nothing will grow, gravel or pavement will have to be the 
solution. Pavements drain well and are easily cleaned; but the gravel, though 
requiring an occasional raking, reheves the monotony of too much pavement. 
Where a sidewalk passes close to a building (within one or two feet), either the 
paving of the walk should be extended to the wall of the building, or the space 
between should be filled in with stone. It is quite possible to make these passages 
look well. The entrance to the house, or the entrance to the back yard may be 
improved and decorated by a gate of good design. Some persons object to a 
main entrance at the side if kitchen service must share its use, but this considera- 
tion need in no way interfere. In many houses now-a-days the kitchens are on 



24 

the front rather than in the rear. Thus there may be a service walk on one side 
of a house and a main-entrance walk on the other, and there is no difficulty in 
so marking the walks as to clearly distinguish them, difference in width alone 
being usually sufficient. 

Walks leading from the side passages need not continue in the same straight 
line after passing the house. If they are too near the lot boundary, they should 
be "stepped" away from the boundary-line hedge or fence to a distance one 
foot greater than the walk width. While it is well to preserve the unbroken 
width of the lawn, a sufficient border of green is very necessary. Allow ample 
widths for main walks, and, if they may be made interesting in any detail without 
appearing fussy, the decoration will be well placed. 



CHAPTER III 

THE ARRANGEMENT OF AVERAGE SUBURBAN LOTS 

(lots 75 to 150 feet) 
Among the owners of suburban homes are to be found many enthusiastic 
amateur gardeners, and in many of our cities, at least m thexr newer sections, 
Ter is evidence in plenty of such interest and of effort to make attractive y^^^^^^ 
In yards with frontages of from seventy-five to one hundred ^-^.^\lf'^^^ 
with depths of one hundred and fifty feet or more there is considerable oppor 
Lity This opportunity, however, may be lost if the available space is not 
Ised to the best advantage. The placing of houses, as well as their plans, sWd 
be carefully studied in relation to the lots selected for them. Most lots of this 
Se are comparatively flat and level, and the problem of planning these is there- 
fore largely concerned with the allotment of, and the effect of, space. The best 
results require that plans for both house and yard be drawn up simultaneously. 
The designing of lots of this size differs from that of the narrower lots pre- 
viously discussed most noticeably in that there is here some opportunity for the 
development of interesting side yards. While it is pleasant to have ample space 
on both sides of a house, without more frontage than the average suburban ot 
affords, this is impossible. It is usually best to place a house as close to oneside 
boundary as will permiL of a driveway and good light, thus saving a 1 the re- 
maining width on the other side for a garden or some gardenlike feature. Of 
course houses with symmetrically designed fronts and central entrances will 
have to appear to be in the center of their lots in order to look well, but probacy 
this type of house is less common among residences of moderate size. The 
possibles for developing interesting side yards depends, not -tirely upon 
the width of a lot, but also upon the width of a house, and even upon the prox- 
imity of adjoining houses. One feels more free to place his house close to either 
side boundary, or to lay out gardens in side yards, if the houses on adjommg lots 
are not too c^;e; or, in case of vacant lots adjoining, if the established restrictions 
regulate the nature of all structures and their nearness to boundary Imes^ 

If it is feasible to have the greatest dimension of a house from front to back 
then space in the side yard may be gained. As the fronts of such houses must 
necessarily be tall and narrow, and not always so pleasing ^^ appearance as a,e 
their longer side views, which emphasize their length rather than their height, it 
is usually better to place the house broadside to the street. At times an L-shaped 
house plan may be used, leaving a small, courtlike yard on one side either toward 
the front or toward the back of the house. Lot widths which would not otherwise 
afford ample side-yard gardens, may, by some such forethought m Planning the 
house, allow a side-yard garden and at the same time produce the effect of the 
broad side of the house toward the street. With these suggestions, or with 
similar care in the planning of houses or in the placing of them, ^o^s narrower 
than seventy-five feet front may offer some opportunity for .sj^^-yard develop- 
ments In selecting a lot, one should take note of both its width and its depth, 
and of its possibilities and its adaptibility to his requirements. 



25 



26 




27 

In properties of this size, front yards may reasonably be allowed greater depth 
than the front yards of narrower lots. Building lines should be adhered to, but, 
within a variation of from ten to fifteen feet, houses may project beyond or recede 
from such a line according as the best allotment of front and back space may 
demand. Oftentimes it is diff cult to convince persons of the advantage of small 
front yards. The idea that a house placed well back gives the appearance of an 
ample lot is by no means uncommon. Very likely, however, suxh persons have 
in mind examples involving much larger houses. But it should be remembered 
that an overly large front j-ard makes the front of a small house appear yet smaller. 
It is seldom that any ill effects result from even unusually small front areas, 
assuming, of course, that the plans provide for porches at the side or at the rear, 
as they should be. 

The most important aspect of the building-line question is that of planning 
for the large open-lawn area in the rear. For both use and the best appearance 
of a completed schem.e, sacriEces should always be made in the front to provide 
for a large lawn in the rear, or at the side and in the rear. 

Fince the general appearance of the street reflects on each individual property 
thereon, it is important to have a proper building line to begin with, and then 
to adhere to this established line if possible, or at least, to disguise any necessar}^ 
discrepancy. As has already been said, marked variations on a street are not 
pleasant and are apt to mar the appearance of the entire street. These discordant 
differences may consist in the use of unlike styles of architecture, in the use of 
both open and enclosed front yards, or in any im.propriety in the details of front- 
yard plans. The distinctiveness of a street, and, in many cases, its actual land 
values, increase with the uniformity and appropriateness of its houses and yards. 
There is always room for interesting variation within the bounds of reasonable 
uniformity. Many persons mistake mere incongruity for variety. It is en- 
tirely to be expected that a street should have some unity, and for the want of 
this unity most of the streets of our suburbs are not as beautiful as they might 
be. The same idea imbues whole suburbs and villages; and would that there 
were sorrxC hope that it might one day be corrected in our cities! The similarity 
of the homes is the main factor m.aking for the charm of many European villages and 
cities. Although as individuals not all of these homes are interesting, at least 
they are neither unattractive nor ugly. There is variety in plenty, and it is the 
subsequent discover^' of this variety, m.ore noticeable when seen at close quarters, 
that sustains the charm of city, village, or street. New suburban developments 
in American cities might well take this lesson from Europe, or from those of cur 
own old villages still to be found in undisturbed sections along the Atlantic 
Coast. The house and front yard which betray their owner's desire for notoriety 
betray also far worse faults, and with a vengeance! 

As has already been suggested, with the exception of those having symmetrical 
fronts, it is rarely good policy to place houses midway between their side bound- 
aries. The plaps for most houses provide a large living room with two smaller 
first-floor rooms on one side, and place the dining room and the kitchen on the 
other. In any case, the kitchen must of necessity be on one side, and its location 
should determine the side on which to plan for out door service. Hence, in order 
to correlate the out doors with the in doors, it is evident that the driveway should 
be located on the kitchen side where it will be needed for everyday service to the 



28 

kitchen, the ice-doors, and the like, as well as for the occasional filling of the coal 
bins. The garage should also be placed in connection with the service yard. 
The drive may be made equally convenient as a main entrance, regardless of 
which side of the house it is placed. Hence in properties of this size the driveway 
is preferably on the service side of the house, and this may well be at that side 
bf the house which is nearest the boundary. 

If the dining room must be on the side overlooking such a driveway, this 
need not be considered unfortunate, for a dining room does not need especially 
beautiful outlooks as much as does the living room. The dining room is used for 
considerably less time than is the living room, and one is somewhat preoccupied 
during meals, and much of the time meals are served when it is quite too dark to 
see outside anyway. Morning sunlight in the dining room and in the kitchen 
is, however, very desirable. Also, it is quite possible, even in small and unpre- 
tentious houses, to arrange for the serving of occasional meals on the rear porch 
or on the terraces. First-floor plans may dispose of a kitchen toward the front 
or toward the back of the house but always adjoining the driveway, and still 
allow for a dining room that will command some view toward the rear if this 
seems preferable to the front outlook; but in any case, when a choice must be 
made, it is both reasonable and feasible to correlate the dining room primarily 
with the service side of a house ; and it is likewise reasonable for the service side 
of a house to be quite near the side boundary. 

What, then, are the minimum requirements for space on the service side of a 
house? The driveway need be no wider than eight feet, and this width is neces- 
sary only for safety in darkness and when excessive snow makes it difficult to keep 
the road. In addition to a driveway, it is highly desirable to have room for a 
strong boundary hedge, which, in maturity, may require five feet of ground space 
and become ten or twelve feet high. One may think he will not want so large a 
hedge, but it is better to allow for space for it, if possible, as the desire for a higher 
hedge may grow faster than the hedge. Some turf is desirable between the house 
and the drive, and likewise between the drive and the hedge, wall, or fence. 
It is also likely that one or more shrubs will be wanted at the house corners. 
Hence it is hardly safe to allow less than from ten to fifteen feet between the 
house and the boundary on the narrow side. But, with this explanation of the 
factors involved, rather than to endeavor to lay down fixed dimensions for ex- 
tremely variable conditions, it would be better to suggest that the precise position 
of the house with respect to its side boundaries should be determined only after 
due consideration of the plans for both sides of the house. It is not desirable to 
have cramped appearances in any situation, and only by patient study may 
the best allotment of space on all sides be obtained. 

While for the necessary and work elements, space may be limited to the extent 
of convenience and satisfactory appearance, there is no limit to the area and to the 
opportunity desirable for the recreational elements, both inside and out. There- 
fore it is fortunate if living rooms, porches, and terraces can be on the sunny sides 
of houses, and overlook the wider side yards and ample rear areas as well. There 
are times of the year and times of the day when each side of a house is more 
pleasant than the others, but for a greater part of the time the sunny sides are 
more pleasant. Furthermore, most plants grow best in full sunlight, and this is 
especially to be desired close to the buildings. It is far easier to make those 



29 

lawns and gardens successful which are the l°ast shadowed by the house. It is 
quite possible to plan interesting out door courtyards and gardens of limited 
extent, but most schemes may be improved by more space and more sunlight. 
Only by careful study of plans for gardens or gardenlike features can the precise 
amount of space necessary be determined, and a wise apportionment made be- 
tween the garden side and the service side of the property. 

It is usually possible, and of course always desirable, to reserve the largest 
open space for rear lawns. In case no special side-yard features are wanted, 
this space may be incorporated with the rear. The area necessary for a garage, 
a clotheb yard, vegetable gardens, and the like, should be carefully and compactly 
planned and limited in amount in order to save as much as possible for the rear 
lawn. As has already been stated, this open space should appear to be the 
largest open space on the property. It is not necessary to devote this yard all 
to a lawn; instead, it may include a tennis court, an orchard, or some similar 
variation. But an informal effect and breadth of scenery are to be striven for 
in the development of this yard. It may be a beautiful thing in itself, but it is 
primarily a setting for the varied recreational activities of an entire family. 
The rear yard is the only opportunity on a small property for the expression of 
extent of scene, and it is here that extent can be made most evident and most 
useful. 

The elevation of a house with respect to the grade of the yard has an important 
influence on the circulation, indoors and out, and its appearance also depends 
on correct elevations. The effect of a more spacious yard may be obtained by 
setting the house low on the ground. Grade lines about houses are matters of 
the design of each individual house. In some cases high first floors are to be 
desired, but these are more likely to be in keeping with larger houses. There 
are instances where high first floors are not desirable but necessary, and under 
these circumstances it is possible to disguise the excessive difference between 
the outside grade and the inside floor level. In small, unpretentious houses, it is 
usually best to keep the first floor level very near that of the ground, that is, 
from 12 to 24 inches above it; and under ordinary circumstances there are 
no practical difficulties involved in such an arrangement. The outside aspect of 
a house set low is far more pleasing, and from the inside one sees the yard and the 
gardens in a more intimate relation. The difference between the first-floor 
level and the outside grade need not be the same on all sides of a house. The 
grade line on each side should be determined by the design of the house and in 
accordance with the grade conditions of the lot or of proposed changes. How- 
ever, in regard to both appearances and convenience, requirements as to grade 
will vary on the several sides of a house. On the front, or entrance side, the 
house may properly appear to stand a little higher out of the ground than it 
should on the sides adjoining the lawns or gardens, where a more intimate re- 
lation should exist between the gardens and the windows and doors of the living 
rooms. Sometimes it is desirable to express some formaUty about the main 
entrance, and five or six steps at the front door may then look well. For the 
sake of convenience the steps at a kitchen door should be few. More important 
than all these considerations, however, is the connection between the living rooms 
and the private area. The nearer the outside and the inside elevations can be 
brought together, and still be consistent with practical considerations, the better. 



30 

The elevation of one or two steps is sufficient for appearances and for dryness, 
and all steps should, at any cost, be made of very easy pitch. In adopting ratios 
for outside steps, one should realize that the situation is quite different from that 
of the inside, and that flights indoors which are good would be very impractical 
outside. On a lot where the ground is rolling or evenly sloping, if it is not econom- 
ical to level it all about the house, the grade lines may well be varied in accordance 
with these requirements. 

Planning for sunlight is always an important factor in the designing of small 
properties. Windows are not likely to be darkened by adjoining houses when 
lot frontages are several times wider than the house fronts. Nevertheless, if 
buildings can be turned approximately forty-five degrees to the points of the 
compass, instead of directly north and south or east and west, interior light will 
be better and more evenly distributed during every day in the year. Likewise 
only under the same conditions may the maximum amount of sunHght be obtained 
about the exterior of the house. If one will but reQ^ll where the sun rises and 
sets in the different seasons — in summer rising and setting a Uttle north of due 
east and west, and in winter a little south of due east and west — the reason for this 
suggestion will be readily understood. Abundance of sunlight is one of the 
first requirements for health. This has been appreciated more in the planning 
of interiors than in planning yards. But not only the insides of buildings, but 
the exteriors of houses and the surface of the ground about them should be 
designed with a view to obtaining plenty of sunlight. In fact, all ground about 
buildings should be exposed to the direct rays of the sun for at least part of every 
day. An excess of sunUght may be relieved by the shade of tall trees over the 
house, and cool retreats in some part of the yard are quite to be desired; but 
about buildings the dampness due to permanent shadows should be avoided. 

Frequently there are strips of ground close to the house walls in which but few 
things will grow because of the excessive shade. If a little sunhght reaches all 
sides of a house, one thus has the additional advantage of being able to raise 
successfully a greater variety of plants, or even good turf close up to and all 
about the foundations. Nowhere in a yard is thrifty vegetation more necessary 
than about the house, and therefore both dampness due to too much shade, and 
an excessively dry condition due to unnecessarily wide eaves, should, if possible, 
be avoided. U-shaped courts on the northerly sides will always be dark and 
damp; but no such difficulty will result from L-shaped houses if the interior 
angle is so oriented as to receive some sunlight during the winter solstice. Con- 
fined yards, and damp, shaded surfaces of bare ground are with difficulty made 
fit and attractive for out door life. Moreover, they are by no means healthful 
places for children to play in. A considerable and worthwhile advantage is 
obtained by eliminating excess shade, and it should be remembered that such 
precautions will at the same time improve the conditions both indoors and out. 

While the factor of sunlight is important, on small lots houses must be parallel 
with the streets on which they face. In the case of properties of several acres in 
extent, few if any difficultis are encountered in so orienting and planning the 
houses as to obtain the desired light. Therefore those who purchase lots of a 
half acre or less should choose streets running either northwest and southeast or 
northeast and southwest, or those of curved or irregular Hnes which wiU allow 
the desired freedom in the placing of buildings. Residential developments on 



31 

steep hillsides, and topography of a rough and irregular nature will, of course, 
require winding roadways of approach, and will result in lots of varied form and 
outline. Space in yards may be more economically planned if the houses are 
parallel to the lot hnes, but in the case of irregular lot lines, the principle does not 
apply with the same force as in rectangular lots. Such irregular situations are 
not citylike but picturesque, and therefore greater liberties many be taken, 
with safety and with success. 

Lots with from fifty to one hundred and fifty feet frontage afford greater 
opportunity of development than do those still narrower, but it should be re- 
membered that the possibilities of such yards are nevertheless comparatively 
limited. Careful planning of their space should, as always, preface any actual 
work on their development. It is advisable to select a lot suited to one's re- 
quirements, as not only will it be easier and less expensive to develop, but there 
is also far greater possibility of its realizing one's ideal. Starting, then, with 
the advantage of suitable conditions, one should be careful to proceed logically, 
giving attention to the various aspects of the problem in the order of their im- 
portance. The house should be located and planned with due consideration for 
the space needed about it for outside features. Also, the first-floor rooms and 
the doors and the windows should all be properly related to the outside features. 
The genera] outlines of the whole plan should be studied with special regard to 
the proper allotment of space, the practicabiUty and the possibility of the neces- 
sary use and of the desired effects, — and in this broader aspect should the entire 
plan be determined before any details are considered. No more should be at- 
tempted than may be well done. Properties of larger extent can not be taken 
as models. There is not space for a great number of features nor for a variety 
of effects. Simplicity should rule in the appearance of the whole and in all the 
details. The several yards and gardens should be few in number and simple in 
character ; and decoration, sparingly used should be applied only to such objects 
as seats, gateways, and the Hke, which are seemingly useful. 



CHAPTER IV 
DETAILS OF PLANNING FOR AVERAGE CITY LOTS 

In starting a plan, it is highly essential that one school himself to see at first 
only general outlines, relationships between main parts, and general propor- 
tions. It was the purpose of the preceding chapter to emphasize the necessity 
of studying these fundamentals before giving thought to details. One starts 
with an outline of his lot, drawn to a known scale. To suggest a house, its 
position, and the approximate areas alloted to front, back, and sides, — in fact, 
to tell the whole story, — a square or rectangular outline, also drawn to scale, 
is cut from a piece of paper to represent the house, and this is placed somewhere 
within the lot outline. The square representing the house is then shifted about 
to different positions, until the proportions of the front and the back areas and 
of the sides seem about right. 

Next, one may begin to think a little about the house itself. Considering the 
points of the compass and the local phj'-sical conditions, the first-floor plans 
for the house should be drawn accordingly. Some particular outline of the 
ground plan may seem better than the others in view of the lot width, its 
orientation, or the like. Thence one may proceed to plan the elevations of the 
house and to arrange the 3^ard, the subdi\'isions of the several areas, and, finally, 
the details of the house and of the yard. It is highly important to plan thus by 
a logical sequence of thought. If the general relationships are correct, the plan 
will be convenient. If the proportions between the areas are good, the finished 
scheme will be pleasing, even though the details may be crude. Details maybe 
changed; but a house may not easily be moved, nor house plans altered, if the 
original position or plans subsequently prove a handicap in the development of 
the yard. If one is primarily interested in the house, he should yet remember 
that a well-planned yard is necessary for the best appearance of the house; 
and, of course, good style and a suitable arrangement of the house are equally 
essential for the best development of the 3^ard. It is absolutely necessary to 
solve a plan in its fundamentals before one can have a point of view for the con- 
sideration of its details. 

As has already been suggested, the allotment of space about a house should, 
as a rule, provide the greatest amount for the recreational area — the gardens 
and the private lawn. The front yard should be next in size, and the service 
area the smallest. Variations of this apportionment are not only quite possible, 
but often desirable, but in such instances a satisfactory^ appearance will require 
careful attention to the use of architectural details and planting. There is no 
rule for the precise proportions desirable. If approximately correct, neither 
space, nor the opportunity for the apparent correction of proportions by careful 
handling of details will be lost. Herein lies the opportunity for a good designer, 
who may determine these fundamental proportions with great nicety, and there- 
by add both interest and usefulness to the plan. A designer may formulate the 
main lines of a plan with some general idea of its finished appearance; but 
nevertheless he invariably works from generalities to details — -never from 



details to generalities. An inexperienced person with no training in design had 
better deal with his problem step by step. 

The front yards of suburban homes should be planned with regard to much the 
same principles as are recommended for the corresponding areas in small city 
properties. The chief function of the front yard of most residences is to furnish 
a suitable foreground for the house front. Since, admittedly, the house front 
is the most important part of a property that is seen from the street, to this all 
else becomes subsidiary — walks and roads, lawns, vegetation, and the like — ■ 
and all these should therefore be so selected and so arranged as to make for the 
best appearance of the house. Nor should its appearance during the spring and 
summer seasons only be considered, but during all seasons; and special effort 
should be made to obtain an effect that will be at least similar, if not the same, 
during the whole year. 

If the need of space in the rear has necessitated an unusually small front yard, 
there will be no difficulty in arranging for its satisfactory treatment. There may 
be but little need for planting, the walks may appear best straight or laid to 
some conventional plan, and a very simple and trim effect may seem more fitting ; 
but the appearence of the whole will be none the less pleasing than if it were more 
elaborate. The space in the front may well be small rather than large, as, by 
comparison with it, the house front is thus emphasized rather than subordinated, 
and, furthermore, the width of the front is thus apparently increased. 

Similarity of front yards on any street is much to be desired, and one should at 
least consider the customs of the street or block, whether or not he follows them. 
Slight variations from adjoining yards are permissible and frequently necessary, 
as most yards are not well done; but ill appearances are less likely to result if 
front yards are very simple and plain. Hedges or fences on the street line seem to 
be coming more and more into favor, but if a single lot of meager frontage is the 
only one in the block that is hedged or fenced, it may mar the appearance of the 
whole street; and, furthermore, the lot so fenced seldom looks as well as was ex- 
pected. As a rule, small front yards appear larger and to better advantage if the 
center is open, for unbroken lawns alway appear larger. The front yard is an 
entrance to the house as well as a foreground for the house; and while there is no 
reason to desire a great expanse of lawn there, for one who desires all possible ap- 
pearance of space this simple scheme is best. Indeed, from whatever angle one 
may view the problem of this area, restrained rather than complex or elaborate 
treatments of it are best. As was mentioned in connection with narrow city lots, 
the simplicity and breadth of scale suitable for the foreground of the house front 
are also more likely to be in scale with the larger scenery of a street. 

Vegetation in front yards should be but sparingly used, should be of similar 
tones of green, and should be arranged about the edges of the lawn rather than 
in its center. Usually, with the judicious use of a few shrubs at the steps and at 
the house corners and, in some cases, with shrubs or trees grouped on the boundary 
lines near the house, and with an open lawn, the general requirements of the 
scene are satisfied. 

The amount of planting will depend somewhat upon the size of the area; but 
a front always looks better bare of vegetation than crowded with planting. Sin- 
gle plants that are large and shapely are no more expensive than a number of 
small plants, but one had better plant but one, or a very few, small shrubs, and 
wait for them to grow, than to plant thickly with the intention of thinning out 



later, for such thinning is apt to be neglected. Only under special and most 
unusual conditions should planting be made continuous across the base of a house 
front. The most important position for plants is that on either side of the main 
house entrance. This front door should be the center of interest of the who^e 
picture, and the finest shrubs should be used here — 'Usually a pair of shapely and 
similarly formed plants. Rounded forms are always good, and in fact, are usually 
better than conspicuous pointed forms, since the door, rather than the plants, is to 
be the main object of interest. If it is difficult to obtain suitable mature plants, 
it is sometimes possible to put three or more plants together to make one large 
plant. 

At the house corners one or more plants frequently look well. Here either 
single plants or compact groups should be used, and these shrubs may be taller 
than those at the door, as well as more free-growing in habit. If there is a garden 
on one side of the house, it is likely that dense planting — a, shrub border, or a 
hedge, or even a wall — from the house to the boundary will be required to 
enclose the private area. If continuous border planting is used, the plants 
composing it should be for the most part larger shrubs, or medium-sized or 
large trees, all of which must have low branches from the ground up. This 
characteristic is essential to the finished appearance, as otherwise the bare ground 
would show under the plants. This large material is very desirable, in order 
that the planting as a whole may be in scale with the tree-and-lawn scenery 
of the street. 

Density of growth and color of foliage are factors of first importance in the 
selection of plants for front yards. Flowers on shrubs, or herbaceous flowering 
plants, are transient, and although their leaves may remain, many flowering 
plants look shabby after their flowers are gone. Some shrubs and trees have a habit 
of branching more densely than others, and this density gives them a winter value, 
as their form and appearance are nearly as good then as in summer. Shrubs 
which in winter display only a few scraggly branches are not desirable for front- 
yard use. Evergreens are best suited for the front yard, at least in part and where 
the best effects are desired, but one should be advised as to the hardiness of 
evergreens, and should also be sure of their ability to thrive in exposed, or, 
perhaps, dusty situations. In the selection of evergreen or deciduous plants, 
dark and normal greens are preferable. If flowering shrubs are selected, at no 
time during the growing season should there be a greater predominance of flowers 
than of green foliage, and white flowers are always best. The plant element 
should be used in such a manner as not to attract undue attention to itself, but 
rather to frame and to set off the front door and the house front. If the house 
is symmetrical in design, the planting should be nearly or quite as symmetrical; 
but if the door is at one side and if the house itself is nearer one side of the lot 
than the other, then the center of interest should be kept at the door by the use 
of more planting, taller plants, or by the arrangement of more interesting plant 
groups on the narrower side. 

The interest should be centered on the front door, and balance should be 
restored if the house is not in the middle of its lot, and this can be accomplish- 
ed mainly by the clever arrangement of planting. 

It is not always necessary to resort to shrubs for front-yard planting. Es- 
pecially if the scale of design is large and if the house is dignified in appearance, 
trees alone may accomplish the result, and that in a more simple and pleasing 



8 

manner. A tree with low branches sweeping the lawn at each side of a house 
may frame it better than low-growing vegetation. If the house is not in the 
center of its lot, a tall tree on the narrow side and a lower-growing tree on the 
garden side, either alone or grouped with small trees, may balance the planting 
of the front and also afford an interesting background for a side-yard garden. 

There are many possible alternatives to these suggestions, and doubtless some 
that are particularly fitting for front-yard planting schemes. But training and 
experience in such matters, or keen observation on the part of the amateur, is 
necessary to determine them. While it might seem unnecessary to put it in 
words, in order that there shall be no uncertainty, let us say that in small front 
yards, no flower beds should be cut out of the lawn and no specimen plants should be 
planted in the center of the lawns; and probably it is unnecessary to proscribe 
all such objects as iron dogs, deer, vases, and gaily painted old hot-water boilers 
used as receptacles for flowers. Unfurnished yards of good grass look better than 
those gaudy with unsuitable and poor decoration or cluttered with too much 
planting. Frequently the best front-yard furnishing is that which is the least 
noticeable. 

To that side of the house on which are located the living rooms should be ad- 
joined the most private and pleasingly developed part of the yard. This area 
should appear to be the largest division of the outdoor space. Whether it is to be 
separated into a garden and a lawn, or left in one undivided space, or otherwise 
arranged, always the effect of amplitude should predominate. It may be 
possible to subdivide it into several parts, but one should be careful that such an 
arrangement does not diminish its apparent size. These areas may be regarded 
as outdoor rooms of the home, and in order to function similarly to rooms of the 
house, they must afford privacy. 

Yards without any privacy receive little interest from their owners, as they 
cannot be used. And it is in the full realization of the usefulness of this area that 
the crux of the outdoor problem lies. One may own a house in the city and 
necessarily live in a city block; but why live in the suburbs of a city, where out- 
of-door space is available, and derive no advantage from the yard? The principal 
purpose of a private yard is to afford a pleasant and restful setting for recreation 
in the open air. Privacy is not only essential to the usefulness of the yard, but is 
also requisite for desirable views from the adjoining rooms. The living rooms, 
are more interesting if some views from the windows express an extension of, and 
an appealing variation of, the living quarters of the house. It is desirable to 
have pleasant outdoor life at home as well as at a summer resort, and many persons 
have to make the most of what the home affords. The point for everyone to 
realize is that the home may be made to afford more pleasure than is commonly 
derived from it. 

As was stated in the opening chapter, there is evidence in plenty, of a wide- 
spread interest in the betterment of yards. However, it has hitherto been cus- 
tomary to plan a yard to be attractive only from the street and from the windows 
of the house. The efforts to improve yards have therefore consisted, for the most 
part, in making showy plantations. Every suburban home should have an 
outdoor room, to look into, and to live in. The acid test of the fitness of any 
general scheme or of any detail proposed for the private part of the grounds should 
be the degree in which it possesses this roomlike character. If the space is 
large enough to be divided into several features — if there may be a small garden 



a terrace, or a courtyard, and still allow space for the expression of an ample lawn — • 
it is well; but one should not forget that the extent of the grounds in this quarter 
will be more effective than on any other side of the house. Yard improvement 
aims to afford convenience for necessary features and to make all parts of the 
property look well, but it purposes primarily to save space and to bend all things • 
toward the best development of the private grounds. Upon success in this part of 
a yard depends, largely, the success of the whole scheme. 

The simplest scheme for the private grounds is a bordered lawn including both 
the side yard and the rear area. A hedge consisting of but a single species of 
shrub or tree will afford the desired enclosure. If a low wire fence is passed through 
the center of the hedge or erected on the outside, a hedge may be made almost as 
effective a barrier as a wall. If such a hedge is to be trimmed, on the sides only or 
on both top and sides, then, of course, a suitable plant should be selected. Of 
coiirse, in very restricted areas only hedges or architectural barriers are suitable, 
as they occupy less space than free-growing plantations. Mixed borders of flow- 
ering shrubs may also be arranged as a hedge and thus occupy less space than 
curvilinear borders. Likewise, but little space is necessary for a trimmed hedge 
with groups of flowering shrubs or trees in the corners. 

It is more satisfactory to enclose lawns with free-growing borders of trees and 
flowering shrubs, carefully arranged with respect to the necessary heights and the 
suitabihty of the plants, as by such means the desired enclosure is secured, the 
flowers and the fruits of the plants may be enjoyed and the minimum of care is 
required. A private lawn of unconventional character requires considerable 
space, but lots of one hundred by two hundred feet may be made to accomodate 
them if the space is carefully planned. If there is a conventional garden or even 
a very small courtyard, an informal lawn is a pleasing feature in contrast with the 
predominating conventionality of the house and the remainder of the yard. If 
all the space of the private grounds is in one lawn, flowering borders, even in- 
cluding some herbaceous flowers, will furnish the gardenesque character desired. 
For the greater part of the growing season a simple lawn furnishes a pleasant and 
restful outlook from the house, but its usefulness is more that of a playground 
than of a garden. While the so-called informal border is in most cases, more 
satisfactory^ it should be reaHzed that in very small yards conventional schemes 
such as hedges, trimmed or untrimmed, are also very interesting, will furnish the 
necessary enclosure, and, what is more important, will leave more space available 
for a playground. 

Whether or not the need of a garden is felt, an enclosure smaller than the lawn 
and more closely connected with the house is much to be desired. While an ex- 
pression of spaciousness is essential in a lawn, a terrace or a courtyard or a small 
garden needs only enough space for a company to sit in the open, aS they would 
in an indoor room. If there is a space for a panel of velvety lawn in addition 
to the necessary pavement, or if it is possible to have flowers in an ample border 
or in pots, such decoration is much to be desired and is quite in keeping. Dry 
pavements within the privacy of one's immediate yard or garden are at times con- 
venient and attractive places for outdoor exercise, and also for other reasons it is for- 
tunate if this smaller enclosure is not too Hmited. But, unless a house is large, a 
small area is better suited to this purpose than a large one. As one uses his porch, so 
would he use a terrace or a small garden more frequently than a lawn. In fact, 



lO 

passage to and from it would be much like that between adjoining rooms. Con- 
sidering the best use of space and the relation of this private enclosure, together 
with its various requirements, to the house, it is usually preferable to locate it in the 
side yard. 

What, then, are the possibilities and the limitations in planning side-yard gar- 
dens on lots varying from seventy- five to one hundred and fifty feet, or thereabouts, 
in width? To begin with, the level of this area should be as near the level of the 
first floor of the house as is practical. The cellar of the house should be planned to 
receive little or no light from the garden side, and coal windows and the like should 
be on other sides of the house. With a masonry house, no difficulties will arise if the 
ground is but a step or two below the first floor level; but with a house of frame 
construction, the wooden sills must be protected from dampness, and for these 
houses two or three steps may be necessary. While it is desirable that gardens 
should be in every detail, closely related to the house, necessary steps in excess of 
one or two may be made attractive by the use of porches or terraces one step below 
the house-floor level, and in exceptional cases decorative stairways may be appro- 
priate. While it is possible to make interesting gardens in side yards at levels consid- 
erably below that of their houses, the area of such gardens is apparently reduced, 
and due to loss in reciprocity of view and because of inconvenience in use, the much- 
desired expression of intimacy between garden and living room is impaired. All 
steps between houses and gardens should be made in such a ratio of rise to tread 
that their ascent is both gradual and comfortable. The ratios of indoor stairways 
are not suitable for out-of-door stairways. Rarely should garden steps be steeper 
than the ratio of six inches rise to fourteen inches tread, and frequently the rise 
should be even less in proportion to the tread, in order to express better the close 
relationship between the various levels. Abruptness in outdoor steps, especially 
in features closely related to a house, makes for crude appearances and seriously 
mars an otherwise interesting garden. 

The least conventional scheme for this private side- yard enclosure is a small 
lawn with a free-growing border of shrubs. To attempt a curvilinear outline for 
the planting around this area is unwise, as it is wasteful of space, appears forced, 
and is utterly inconsistent with the requisite conventionality of this area which is 
so closely related to the house. Therefore, whether the bordering shrubs are to 
be trimmed as a hedge or allowed to grow naturally, they should be arranged in 
straight lines. If the effect of a trimmed hedge is desired, those shrubs or trees 
should be selected which will make good and proper hedges. Of course, trimmed 
hedges make for a more formal effect than free-growing hedges, and architectural 
barriers, whether used wholly or in part, will add a still greater degree of conven- 
tionality. If more than one species of flowering shrubs are used, the several 
kinds should be disposed in a balanced arrangement, whether evenly mixed or 
massed. If garden flowers are to be used within, hedges, walls, or lattices should 
be provided as a suitable background. A balanced arrangement of potted flowers 
or of larger plants in tubs is a simplified expression of this grass-covered and hedge- 
bordered garden. 

Elaboration of this side-yard living room should deal first with its essentials — 
the surrounding barrier and the ground covering — rather than with its decoration. 
An effective barrier is necessary to make an interesting interior and to insure 
privacy, if the garden is to be enjoyed. Hedges should be dense from the base to 
the top. As they will need to be high, one can well afford to make them wide. 



A kind of shrub or tree which grows tall needs to be allowed to grow to considerable 
width also, in order to remain thrifty. Shrubs should be set in two or more rows 
to assure the achievement of density. By a careful selection of plants, it is 
possible to use a row of tall-growing shrubs with a row of lower-growing shrubs on 
either side, thus obtaining greater height and at the same time being certain of 
density at the base. The heights should shut out views from adjoining property, 
from the street, and also, to some extent, cut off the remainder of the yard. Closely 
neighboring houses frequently make privacy difficult of attainment in side-yard 
gardens. If there is no space for tall, slender trees along the property line, an over- 
hanging lattice, a pergola, or awnings about the edges or against the far side of the 
garden may be necessary to afford some private retreat within the area. Archi- 
tectural barriers will be necessary when there is no space for free-growing plant- 
ing or even for hedges. Walls or lattices should be of simple design and should be 
both in keeping with small houses and comparatively inexpensive. If there is no 
ground space for flowers or other decoration, some color may be provided by the 
enclosing plantations, or by vines, or walls, or lattices. If there are flowers within 
the garden, however, the hedges or walls should be planned as backgrounds only. 
However, decoration is not a first necessity, as interest may be supplied and main- 
tained by a handsome pavement, hedges perfect to the extent of being beautiful, and 
distinctive and inviting-looking chairs and seats. If it has the appearance of 
comfort and retirement, any feature — garden, courtyard, or terrace — will have 
its appeal; it will have atmosphere. 

There will be many occasions when one would like to use his garden or courtyard 
but cannot because of its dampness, if the entire surface be grass covered. It 
is best, therefore, to have some part of the area in a satisfactory and interesting 
pavement, in order that in all moderate weather this outdoor room may be used. 
While a grass surface in perfect condition is beautiful, it is very difficult to keep 
even and perfect if it is partially shaded or if it receives very hard wear. Hence, 
for very small areas it is best not to attempt grass but to resort to stone, which 
may be made none the less interesting. If the space available for side-yard 
gardens is large enough, its surface may be interestingly varied with walks and 
panels of grass, and even with beds of flowers. 

The boundaries of a side-yard garden are of course fixed by the house on the one 
side and on the opposite side by the property Hne; and while the continuation of 
the lines of the front and back faces of the house to the side boundary are usually 
accepted as the other limits of this area, these lines may be moved forward or 
backward, to enlarge or reduce the area, so long as they are kept parallel with the 
lines of the house. In most small properties, the lot lines are rectilinear, and the 
house is parallel with the street lines if not also parallel with all the lot lines. 
In this small sideyard, the space is too small to permit of any angularity of form 
which is neither determined nor controlled by the lines of the house or of the 
lot. The close relation of the side-yard garden to the house should limit its 
form, or outhne, to paralleUsm with the house. It will accordingly be necessary 
to plan the outlines of this area on these lines, if the space available is to be used 
most economically, and if, also, the best appearance is to be assured. Curvilinear 
outlines for such small gardens are not practical, as the space is not sufficiently 
large to allow for a variety of curves, unless the scale adopted is small to the 
degree of pettiness. Within this area, some degree of conventionality is most 
fitting, and any departure from conventionality is likely to result in a waste of 



space, and is sure to detract from the appearance of the garden. A sufficiently 
large private lawn may be accorded some degree of informality, and, in fact, 
this is much to be desired. But a garden or a courtyard in close relation to the 
house should partake of the character of the house. It is to be used as a room, 
and it is therefore eminently reasonable to plan it as an outdoor room. 

As has been already stated, probably the simplest plan for this garden is a 
rectangular area with a high enclosure, with unbroken turf or a pavement and, 
decorated only with such furniture as may be necessary. If further decoration 
is desired, some one thing should be featured. Walls may be decorated by de- 
signs laid in the masonry; lattices may be plain and draped with vines, or they 
may be more elaborate and have vines over them ; hedges may have recesses cut 
into them for flowering plants; or again, walls or lattices may be made garden- 
like with flowering vines; but whatever the scheme of decoration adopted, a 
single one should be sufficient. If a flower border is to be the decorative feature, 
the walls of the enclosure should be planned as a neutral background. If 
an arbor or a small summer house, however simple, is to be included, the design of 
this architectural element should be so exceedingly refined in general proportions 
and in detail that it may be an all-sufficient decoration. If there must be a 
combination of decorative features, some one feature should predominate, and 
the garden should not be elaborated beyond the degree suitable to the house and, 
to the remainder of the property. For small properties, simplicity is best; and 
it should be remembered, furthei , that only simplicity is consistent with dignity 
and is expressive of refinement. Simplicity is also quite suitable for the more 
elaborate homes. 

In the case of very small side yards (lo x 20 to 15 x 25 ft. or there abouts), it 
is best to leave the main ground space unbroken. As space in the corners is of 
the least importance, it is in this quarter that one may safely introduce tubbed 
plants, or corner beds of flowers, or the like. Hence, as areas become larger, 
the ground spaces that may be taken from the pavement or the lawn of larger 
areas are, in the order of their importance, first the corners, then a strip all along 
one side, and finally strips along two, three, or even all of the sides. If the entire 
open space is concentrated in but one area, it appears larger; and one should 
plan to have the greater part of this space open for tables and chairs or for walk- 
ing about. The garden should be decidedly ample before any flower beds are 
introduced into its center. If the area is too large to look well with its entire 
surface paved, although some dry and smooth footing is desired, the problem 
may be satisfactorily solved by a pattern of grass and paving. This both fulfills 
the practical requirements of good walking, and affords the pleasing appearance of 
fine, even, turf, without in anyway detracting from the sense of openness and 
spaciousness. It is thus possible, with a rather large area, to obtain a very 
simple but dignified expression. A garden may be sufficiently large to permit 
an arrangement of border flower beds, parallel walks, and a center bed, but it may 
not be sufficiently large for the subdivision of the center bed by intersecting 
walks. But in order to decide on any of the above schemes, it is first neces- 
sary to know something of the dimensions practical for walks, terraces, flowerbeds, 
and the like. 

Flower beds that are planned for annuals may be made very much narrower 
than those planned for perennial flowers. There are many annual garden flowers 
that are small and that remain about the same size all summer. From annuals of 



13 



the deseed colo. sn,a„ si.es n,ay be ^'^-^^^ ^ZXST^^ ^ 
,,„„.ansun,.en^Usnotnece^^^^^^^^^^^ 

tiers or to provide for "^^^^ *3™ ;„ „<,„^, {„ but a part of the growmg 

Most herbaeeous perenmals, however, "em now F ^^_^^._^^^ 

s^on. the,r roots are ar.er. -^^ --^Zt f:et''::;de, which may be made 

:r;re:;ll-*nrtKi;,m.etoon^^„« 

er widths up to twelve feet, are far better. 

o,^y "f *= !;"'^-";:rrea; Ind^^^^^^^^^^^^ a background a bright color is 
a fine-textured, dark green neage, -^ cleverly arranged, may be 

^"^ t^j t .:gt;rp:r';io:'^'rHtei::;;s :;ra^sma,i pVt.o„ of 

rJerfSr othelToJis^usuaiiy a -'e -d P.asmg co b,^^^^^^^ >"-« 
city gardens sometimes -'^.-"^r^^we^^ Sence intS c^s^ 
these, but littie ^P^ ^ -^^f.^^t I^proS™ the careful study necessary. 
'r°'"'°J^XZ:"Zl::ZSLof sLer beds m smaU gardens a„d court- 

be — ^^-;^\Xtabts he ba rs, and the settees therein is of first importance, 
arrangement ot the taoies, xae I.I1C111 , ^, „,^ii ^o m that of porches, 

to thelawns and about the areas tnemsei , . For ex- 

about the garden without interruptmg or -"^^^^^^J^f ^^^ necessarily lead 

:rs^s-:rr-rr-:ra:;^^^^^ 
x:?rsr^g^fc:;=?Xorsecr.^ 
:= r:r:e:r^."=ttr^^^^^^^^^^^ 

to walk about. „hde the usefulness o« ^^>-ger "ea, Jor "h.h the pnvate 

garden is P"--'>'.,*-«-<^; ^iX^^ef Morel e^as these features are a 
should not ordmanly be less than four feet, ivioreov , .!,.„ should be 

nart of the living rooms and are recreational areas of the home, they should De 



14 

much to be desired. Many small walks do not make a small garden appear larger, 
but rather tend to make the design seem petty. 

Lots with a frontage of from loo to 150 feet should have, on the garden side, 
from 40 to 80 feet between the house and the side boundary; and, while it is highly 
desirable to allow an ample width for a boundary screen of trees, in as much space 
as this there is opportunity for more than a mere courtyard garden. However, if a 
larger garden is not desired, more area may well be devoted to heavier screen 
planting along the boundary, or the garden need not be made the full width of the 
house and the additional area may be thrown into the front or, preferably, the rear. 
It must be admitted that small gardens have a charm peculiarly their own, and if 
one does not want the care of an extensive garden, the very small, roomlike 
enclosure satisfies all practical needs with respect to this feature. In most cases, 
greater space should not receive more elaborate planning; rather, this is the 
opportunity for the use of ample dimensions in simple schemes. A large space 
divided by many narrow walks and small flower beds, produces the effect of several 
small gardens rather than of one large one. 

However large a side yard may be, this space is usually the best location for a 
garden, as it is smaller than the back yard, is not apt to have an interesting dis- 
tant view and therefore needs barriers along the side and the front, whatever may 
be the plan for the yard; and, finally, regardless of its extent, this area is still most 
closely related to the living rooms of the house. While the simplest scheme may 
appear to be that of planning the side and back yards as one area, it is not difficult 
to plan to separate, either wholly or partially, the side yard from the rear, and 
to plan this in such a manner as to require no more upkeep than if this garden area 
were merely a part of the lawn. If a lawn is of necessity small, it is more likely to be 
used as a garden; but, as a feature in itself, a lawn is more successful if quite 
ample. It should be realized, however, that both the lawn and the garden each 
have their specific uses, and that either feature alone, even at its best, cannot 
entirely replace the other. If flower gardens are wanted, they should be carefully 
planned in order not to require more care than can be given or procured for them, 
as an unkempt garden adjoining a house is most unsightly. 

While some general suggestions for the planning of flower gardens for larger 
areas have been offered here, the great latitude of this subject makes discussion 
difficult beyond what has already been said. For a situation so close to the house 
as is the private garden, it would perhaps be wise to start with a bit of expert advice. 
However, there is a great deal of good to be gained from honest, independent 
efforts and even from mistakes, and, while one may waste some money and time in 
making changes, there is no reason why he should not try to plan his own garden, 
provided he has first conceived it as a part of the plan for his whole property. 
One should begin by planning the place as a whole; then he should plan his garden 
as a whole, with perhaps a few of its details in mind. But under no circum- 
stances should he begin by planning floral combinations. Other gardens should 
not be copied, either in whole or in part, as one's own garden will be interesting 
only as it is some logical evolution of his particular conditions. To see other 
interesting gardens is helpful and does stimulate one's ideas, but ideas are original, 
at least in their detailed application. One should endeavor to plan a garden 
that is suited to his house, and he should always remember that there is safety in 
simple plans. If amateur gardening will develop better taste, the "trained eye" 
can well afford to pardon some mistakes. Moreover, even the "trained eye" 



15 

has itself made some mistakes, and has also found some pleasant surprises in the 
gardens of amateurs. 

As a garden in the side yard may function as a barrier between the front and the 
rear yards, so also may any long gardenlike feature serve between the rear lawn 
and the area devoted to service. If a gardenlike feature is used, it should be one 
that requires little or no more width than a border planting, lest the area of the 
lawn should thereby be unfortunately reduced. A long straight walk between 
shrubs and trees, or beneath them after they have grown taller, is interesting. A 
collection of ouch shrubs as lilacs may well be used to border such a walk, and, in 
other cases, tall-growing shrubs may be trained to form a covered arch, thus 
affording a shaded approach to the more distant parts of the yard and at the same 
time being in itself an interetting feature. Grass walks with flower borders on 
one side are attractive, but the care of so many flowers is a factor to be considered, 
and especially if there is, in addition, another place for flowers in the garden. 
If the yard is unusually deep, the garden may be located far in the rear with 
a long, shaded walk leading thither. 

A garden placed so far from the house should be directly connected with the 
house by some conventional passageway, or perhaps by a less formal walk, 
according to the style of the garden, such as a straight walk. A distant garden 
need not be so formal as a garden immediately adjoining the living room. In fact, 
in so remote a situation one is freer to experiment with plants and with effects 
to be obtained by plants, and may even try different designs. If the setting is 
suitable for a garden of native plants or for plants growing in or about water, even 
naturalistic effects may be attempted; and, while time and effort may be required 
to produce a naturalistic setting, in a sufficiently large space it may prove both 
appropriate and pleasing. Sometimes ugly buildings on adjoining lots necessitate 
heavy planting along the boundaries, and within these it is occasionally possible 
to develop woodland effects or naturalistic gardens.. When thus they serve a 
double purpose, one is less inclined to begrudge the space occupied by heavy bor- 
ders. It is highly desirable to make the most of small yards, and if any feature can 
be made to perform more than one service the interest obtainable within the same 
space may be increased. All this is but a part of careful and clever planning. 
Walks, partly hidden and partly in the open, that lead one about the confines of a 
yard add considerably to the interest of a pleasure ground. They afford a certain 
intricacy and variety which contribute considerably to the apparent size of an 
area. A winding path, which leads deviously from the house to outlying garden 
spots, summer houses, or arbors, displaying the yard from different points of 
view, may succeed in transforming a small yard into one apparently as large as that 
of an ample suburban home, and may also afford equal privacy and retirement. 

To appear at its best, a lawn should produce the effect of amplitude. Further- 
more an expression of informality is usually more consistent and pleasing. The lawn 
area of many yards, even after the most economical planning, will be found none too 
large, and further care will be necessary in order to obtain the greatest amplitude 
and the best general effect. Curvilinear outlines for borders should have a logical 
reason for their existence. The entire lawn should have a pleasing form, and its 
outlines should bear some relation to the adjoining features and subdivisions of the 
yard. The border curves should not be petty in scale, nor should the recesses along 
the boundary be so small as to be unfortunately narrowed or entirely closed when 
the growing plants reach maturity. Usually it is best to allow the borders greater 



i6 

width at the corners of the lawn than along the sides, thereby obtaining a clear 
but somewhat rounded space of turf. A lawn appears larger and gives the effect 
of greater spaciousness if its area is wide on the rectilinear axes rather than on the 
diagonals. Deep recesses are interesting if there is sufficient space to permit their 
use; and even outstanding specimen shrubs or trees may be planted effectively in 
these places, where they are advantageously displayed against the background of 
the border. But in any lawn, as in any garden, the first thought should be for the 
necessary open space, and scenery consistent only with great meadows cannot be 
reproduced in small back yards. 

In planning the borders of the lawn, one should realize in the beginning that his 
object is not the planting of bushes that are interesting in themselves, but of such 
bushes as will make an appropriate background for the lawn. Many small lawns 
would be far more pleasing if their borders consistedonly of free-growing, tumbling 
masses of greenery, wherein the various kinds of plants are practically indistin- 
guishable. Flowering effects are by no means undesirable in lawn borders, but 
too great a variety is sure to spoil the total effect. A limited variety of flowers 
is, in most cases, to be desired, especially as a profusion of flowers is expected in 
spring and early summer, but a variety of foliage is unfortunate. The indis- 
criminate use of the so-called "foliage plants," whose leaves may be yel- 
low, blue, purple, or any unusual green is unpardonably bad taste. As a rule, 
the peculiar quality of color in these foliage plants is in itself not good, and com- 
binations of them are even worse. The Creator furnished every plant with 
foliage of that tone of green best suited to set off the color of its flower. Most 
native plants have leaves of a desirable green, but of the shrubs and trees available 
for such planting, only dark greens, so far as possible, should be selected. More- 
over, plants with small-bized leaves are preferable to those of coarse foliage. If 
one is fond of flowers, of their fruit, or of the general aspect of any particular 
plant, whether at all seasons or at any particular season, he should recognize 
that showy plants can be seen to best advantage only when they have a suitable 
background. Most, if not all, of the border plants should have good foliage, and 
should be naturally densely branching. A background of good foliage is most 
needed when many of the plants are in flower. When only occasional shrubs are 
in flower or showy with berries, a predominating mass of green all about them 
makes their color appear far more brilHant. 

If a surrounding plantation is composed for the most part of neutral tones, then 
color, pointed forms, evergreens, or other exceptions to this neutral background 
are accentuated. It is desirable to have these accentuated features at points in the 
border that are the termini of the longest views or of views of special importance. 
But if the border is composed for the most part of diverse colors or of variously 
pointed forms, it is not a good background, as it is restless rather than restful, 
and it affords no possibility of further accent where accent is needed. Thus, in 
planning his lawn, one must remember that it should be spacious ; that its outline 
should express a proper relation to the adjoining features, as well as being inter- 
esting in itself ; that it should have an effective barrier of vegetation, so sel ected and 
so arranged as to be for the most part of neutral greens ; and that plants of special 
interest should be carefully placed with respect to the design of the entire yard. 
Informal scenery needs as careful planning as do formal effects. The outlooks 
from the house to the lawn and from the garden to the lawn, as well as the arrange- 
ment of the walks about the entire yard and all other general relationships of the 



17 

whole property to the lawn, should determine its general scheme. With such a 
general plan for a beginning, one may proceed to arrange the details of the lawn 
and of its border planting. Haphazard arrangements of plants, scattered groups 
of various color schemes, and a diversity of specimen plants all make for confusion 
as seen from a distance. The entire effect always should be a first thought. 
Pretty, or even striking scenes, if well placed, fit in as appropriate parts of the 
whole plan, and are interesting in themselves as well. 

The service yard should be. carefully planned in order to reduce the space 
allotted to it and at the same time to insure its convenience and neatness. 
The minimum space consistent with convenience will make for the easiest use of 
this yard. The service yard must necessarily lie somewhat in view of the house, 
and for this reason it should be so planned as to encourage neatness. All space 
that is not needed in this area should be combined with the rear lawn. Further, 
it is important to restrict the service area to that part of the yard nearest the 
kitchen, and to arrange its outline parallel to the boundary of that side. A 
service yard which projects in the direction of the lawn cuts off the house view of 
that part of the lawn lying beyond it. It may be possible to use to advantage the 
space thus cut off from the view of the house, but it is best to so define the outlines of 
the service area, and to so locate it, that the space left for the lawn remains in a 
single area and one of regular -outhne. Thus in most cases it is best if the service 
yard can be planned to occupy a space against the service side of the house; if 
it can continue from the house to the rear boundary; and if it can be of sufficient 
width to allow dimensions practical for buildings, turncourts, and other necessary 
service-yard features. 

While a garage is usually the most important single feature to be accomodated 
in the service area, other possible considerations are a turncourt, a laundry yard, 
a vegetable garden, a cut-flower garden, cold-frames, a chicken-house and runs, 
a compost pit, and access to the kitchen door, the coal bins, the cellar entrance, 
the ice door, and the like. While for most of these features, the minimum di- 
mensions are more or less fixed, in some instances the same space may be made to 
serve more than one purpose. Rectilinear outlines are the most practical, for an 
area of regular form will subdivide most easily and most economically. While a 
garage facing the street and at the end of a straight driveway is apt to display a 
mussy interior when the doors are left open, this arrangement is the most econom- 
ical of space and is the only scheme possible in small areas. A garage so built as 
to be apparently part of the house although actually quite disconnected from it, 
looks far better than a distinctly separate structure. But unless the lot is very wide, 
the garage should open in a manner similar to that of a separate building, — -that is, 
facing the street. The open-door difficulty is not a fundamental consideration, as it 
may be remedied with but a little trouble; very likely some one will soon invent a 
device for opening and closing these doors more easily. The garage may be placed 
directly at the side of the house if one is willing to back in or out ; and even in the 
case of houses near the street, it may be better to forego a turncourt in the rear and 
to place a garage no farther from the rear face of the house than will allow for 
necessary space and light about the kitchen. Of course, the shorter the garage 
drive, the less space it will occupy and the less will be the cost of the construction 
and maintenance of the drive. A turntable within the garage, although expen- 
sive, may be cheaper than the space required for a turncourt and the cost of 
paving it. Unless an ample area may reasonably be allowed for the service yard. 



i8 

and in particular for the turncourt, it is better to place the garage in the closest 
possible relation to a house and to abandon all consideration of a turncourt. 

An automobile turncourt may consist of a complete turn, or of a place for back- 
ing around a quarter circle and turning ahead for another quarter of a circle, 
a turn which may be called, from its shape, a "T." The T has the advantage of 
requiring only half the space that the complete turn demands. The T laid out for 
a large car will sometimes allow a small one to turn completely. The dimensions 
required for turning is known for most automobiles,and anyone can easily determine 
that of his own car. The garage may be located just far enough back from the 
house to allow for a T between itself and the house, and the pavement required 
at the back door may thus serve simultaneously for a walk and a drive. A com- 
plete turn will ordinarily require more space than its convenience is worth.although 
its center may at times be used as a drying area. Complete turns require a diameter 
from fifty to sixty feet at the least, and are rarely economical on lots of less 
than two hundred feet frontage. Unless a complete turn can be turfed in the 
center and a part of the area be made to serve some additional purpose, such a 
plan is not advisable. In the positions just recommended for the garage, it 
should be kept near the side boundary. Placing the garage as close to the house 
as is practical also tends to conserve the area behind it, which will probably be 
assigned to work yards, vegetables, cut-flower gardens, compost pits, and the 
like. In case this space is not needed for work yards, it may be a useful enclosure 
for small children, where they can play with less restraint than on a lawn and' 
can have their toys, sand-boxes and various playground apparatus. The loca- 
tion of the garage and of the driveway leading to it is the largest factor in the plan- 
ning of the service yard, and is therefore necessarily the first thing to be considered. 
The least possible area should be used, however, and the space still unoccupied 
should be carefully allotted to the other features that must be accomodated. 

Suggestions for the barriers for the service yard may be found in the discussion 
of garden and lawn barriers. Limited space may suggest walls, or lattices, or 
wire fences with vines, according to what seems fitting for the house and yard in 
question. Free-growing borders, of course, are practical only when there is con- 
siderable space. But here, as elsewhere, one should think primarily of such factors 
as space, what will look best with the rest of his yard, and what he can afford to 
build and maintain. The barrier between the service yard and the lawn may be a 
wall, a lattice, or a fence, with or without vines over it; or it may be a plantation 
of shrubs and trees, trimmed hedge fashion on the garage side and allowed to grow 
freely on the lawn side. It is possible to use an arbor to separate these areas and 
at the same time to furnish as a walk to the rear. A pleached arbor, made by train- 
ing shrubs or trees in the form of an arbor, is an interesting feature in itself, and 
would also serve as a covered walk; and, moreover, from the outside it could be 
made to resemble a border plantation. In a small vegetable garden, one may plan 
to cultivate close up to the walls. But it is neither possible nor practical to plan to 
cultivate close to hedges or vine-covered fences, for the roots of these growing 
things will spread into the garden space, and there will also be a strip of ground 
that is worn by walking or in caring for the hedge, and other difficulties will arise. 
Witli such barriers it will therefore be found best to plan a walk about the outside 
of the garden plot, as with such an arrangement one may conveniently cultivate 
close up to the line. The walk is a needed convenience, and the area for culti- 
vation will be all in one and the largest possible. Any other buildings to be 



19 

placed in this area should be included in the garage or else erected along the 
boundaries. Unless small buildings are decorative in themselves, as might be the 
case with children's play houses, they are apt to be unsightly. However interest- 
ing they may be, small buildings must be correlated with the entire plan for the 
yard if they are to become an integral part of its scheme and look well. It is 
possible to place garages, playhouses, arbors, and like structures along the lines of 
division between service yards and lawns, and thus they may serve simultaneously 
as boundaries, and as decorative and useful features. Of course, all coordina- 
tion of the parts of a yard plan expresses planning and forethought, and makes the 
yard appear orderly, useful, and interesting, — it looks well because it is 
essentially good. 

Considerable interest may be added to small yards by the judicious use of 
gateways, lattices, trelUses, arbors, seats, and other architectural details. It is 
well to use only such details as are apparently useful. A gateway between the 
garden and the front yard is a part of the barrier between the public and the private 
areas; but it can also serve as a decorative feature of the garden. Necessary 
lattices and walls may likewise be made decorative. Seats should not be so 
placed as to be conspicuous termini of views, but should rather be situated in those 
parts of the yard or garden where one would enjoy sitting. A bird house or a bird 
bath may be grouped with a decorative seat ; but whatever the situation chosen for 
them, it should not be such as to make them appear as an afterthought. All 
decorations should be conceived only as apart of an entire plan. The designs of 
such decoration should be refined, carefully proportioned, and of suitable motif ; fur- 
thermore, they should be suited to the house and yard in style, in material, and in 
workmanship. Costly decorative objects, or imitations of them, are usually in 
poor taste; and such decoration, especially if unsuccessful, makes a garden appear 
ordinary. The results are displeasing indeed. So far as possible, wood should be 
used about the garden, although iron is also appropriate for gates if the design is 
very simple. 

Water features are, as a rule, a proper decoration only for more elaborate resi- 
dences. For most city or suburban homes, running water is a considerable ex- 
pense, and in this respect alone fountains or pools are costly. Yet to have foun- 
tains which only play on great occasions is ridiculous. A fountain necessitates 
constantly running water, and, in fact, fountains become interesting only when 
they have been used for a considerable time till they have become mossy. 
It is sometimes possible to use such features as a bird bath properly and with pleas- 
ing effect, but in very simple homes one had better resort to other means of decor- 
ation. Much the same may be said concerning the use of sundials. These were 
formerly a useful means of telling the time; but now-a-days everyone recognizes 
their impracticability for all but elaborate decorative schemes. It is impossible to 
give definite advice, or to make definite statements, regarding these features, as 
every situation is necessarily a law unto itself. A good plan needs little or no 
decoration, and if one restricts the decoration of his yard practically to useful 
architectual details, even within these narrow limits he must use great judgment 
and exercise much good taste. 



CHAPTER V 

THE ARRANGEMENT OF COTTAGE GROUNDS 
IN COUNTRY OR VILLAGE 

The word cottage carries with it many associations, — appeaUng, attractive, 
and homelike. Some persons will recall European rather than American ex- 
amples, and even those who have not travelled abroad have been familiar, most 
likely, since the days of their childhood, with the illustrations in Kate Green- 
away's books and with other similar pictures of English cottages and cottage 
gardens. The simplicity and homely beauty of the cottage homes, which are so 
common in England, are generally known; and, in fact, among the village homes 
of all the countries of Europe, there are many examples which are equally attract- 
ive. Our own country is not without its quaint villages and charming cottage 
homes; and occasionally a cottage surrounded by its old garden is yet to be found. 
These old villages of our own continent, along the eastern coast, are all that re- 
main today of our colonial village life. Many of these old-time buildings are 
still standing, and the yards of some retain their original old fences; but the gar- 
dens are gone. There are records in plenty to show that the colonists invariably 
brought with them from their home land, seeds and the roots of their garden 
favorites. Their native English tradition was that of a house in a garden setting. 
But neglect makes short work of a garden, and only such enduring things as 
boxwood remained. Until recently, old boxwood hedges and trees were by no 
means uncommon in the yards of old villages in New England, New Jersey, 
Delaware, and Maryland, and they flourish still in Virginia and in the South. 
Now-a-days there is a tremendous demand for them for the gardens of the wealthy. 
In pre-Revolutionary days, without doitbt, cottage gardens were the custom- 
ary settings for every cottage home, just as the dignified avenues of approach, 
the ample courtyards, and the gardens were an invariable part of every colonial 
manor. 

Of course it was inevitable that this phase of our colonial life, its home, should 
have to pass, along with the life itself. The century following the Revolution 
was a period of constant change and rapid growth. Established trade with 
Europe was disrupted, and consequently many lines of industry depending upon 
it were affected, ports were closed, and whole villages were abandoned. But on 
the other hand, new and greater opportunities were opened: the children and the 
grandchildren of the early colonists turned pioneer, and moved westward, to pass 
through a similar period of struggle with virgin country and with crude con- 
ditions. The colonial life of America was from one hundred to one hundred and 
fifty years old at the time of the Revolution, and in that time it was not a new 
country, but merely a colonial life that had matured. It is, perhaps, little to be 
wondered that in a similarly brief period of time, and one, moreover, interrupted 
by a war most disasterous to the country's progress, that more has not been 
accomplished in America toward settled living conditions and toward a general 
desire for beauty and refinement in home surroundings. 

It is unfortunate that an appreciation of the beauty of simple and homely 

3 



things is not encouraged, fostered, or preserved among the peasantry of a country, 
or among those of hmited means. Pt'.ch appreciation, it would seem, would 
make for greater contentment and thrift. Rapid advancement and increase of 
income, however, appears to develop a taste for excitement and for extravagance 
rather than for betterment of living conditions and for general thrift. Of course 
the peasantry of today in this country is not the peasantry of a subsequent genera- 
tion; and home is not regarded as home in the real sense of the word, but merely 
as a temporary residence, not only by the laborer but by a large majority of the 
American population as well. When, in an individual or in a class, a genuine 
desire for beauty develops, art will result, although taste must first be cultivated 
and standards evolved. Cottage gardens are the result of long-settled con- 
ditions of living, of a desire for beauty, and of a love of home and of plants them- 
selves. These gardens were not ptirchased with money, but were made of the 
materials at hand, and, in this respect, are therefore genuine and popular art. 

Some villages in the vicinity of large cities have been rediscovered and re- 
juvenated by cit}^ folk, to whom village life is attractive. But such instances 
have frequently resulted in business and real estate booms, in the building of cheap 
and ugly houses and the like, or in too much prosperity of an ultra-fashionable 
kind; and any of these will destroy the simple character of the village. One 
admires the city folk who prefer village life, and wishes that many old villages, 
whose nearness to cities is proving their destruction, might instead be so sectled; 
but real village life and true rural prosperity depend upon those who spend their 
whole lives there. If this country is ever to see again beautiful cottage homes 
made, as of old, by country folk, it will be only by a slow development through a 
period of years. Nevertheless the evidence of renewed interest in country life 
and the desire of city workers for simple homes in the country should be en- 
couraged ; and surely not the style of city homes but rather those of the country 
and of the village should dominate. It would seem that the early American 
colonial cottage and its garden might well be the inspiration for the design of 
simple country homes. An 'English cottage in America looks like a stranger in a 
strange land. A California bungalo, the t^^pe suggested by the architecture of the 
old Spanish Missions, is adapted to that climate and looks well only in the West 
and Southwest, in the conditions amid which it was born. In the East, certain 
types of building were produced by, or were the result of, several factors, such as 
traditions from mother countries, building materials available, climate, and other 
conditions of environment. The architecture of the colonials was a natural 
evolution. Likewise today the colonial style is our tradition. We need not 
necessarily try to reproduce it, and, further, it is logical that the style of today 
should be adapted to present-day conditions. The colonists did not reproduce 
styles of their native countries, although they began with them as a point of 
departure. As this inspiration grew, the colonists created a new style. It 
should be noted, however, that they did not create a new style by trying to 
depart from their tradition. In the East we have come to associate the styles 
prevalent just before and just after the Revolution with village and with country 
life, and it is felt that any radical departure from these styles, or even the country 
version of them, is therefore a false note and one detrimental to success in making 
new small homes in the country. 

But what is a cottage garden? The simple garden of the cottager has always 



made a special appeal which unquestionably is the result of its individuality, of 
its fitness, and of its spontaniety. These characteristics are common to almost 
all cottage gardens, whether old or new, English or American, conceived by their 
owners, or built according to the dictates of the conditions and of the materials 
at hand, without regard to passing styles and each in a style of its own that 
changes only with time and with growth. An excellent description of cottage 
gardening is to be found in Village Homes of England, by Sidney R.Jones, which is 
quoted as follows: 

Cottage gardening is a subject difficult to define or to include within 
certain limits. In the practice of it English villagers have always ex- 
celled. Rural occupations, indeed, have ever appealed to the national 
mind, and whether the consideration be of gardens that surround man- 
sions, houses, or peasant's dwelling, the same evidence of devotion to 
the 'purest of human pleasures' is there. In the best of our village 
gardens the effects appear to be spontaneous and unstudied, and the 
operations of art are cunningly concealed; they seem to have grown 
together without the aid of man. Villagers are born gardeners. With 
skill they apply and adapt their knowledge acquired from nature. 'The 
very laborer,' said Washington Irving, 'with his thatched cottage and 
narrow strip of ground, attends to their embellishment. The trim 
hedge, the grass plot before the door, the little flower bed bordered with 
snug box, the woodbine trained up against the wall and hanging its 
blossoms about the lattice, the pot of flowers in the window, the holly, 
providentially planted about the house to cheat winter of its dreariness 
and to throw in a semblance of green to cheer the fireside: all these 
bespeak the influence of taste, flowing down from high sources, and per- 
vading the lowest levels of the public mind.' 

Quoting further from Mr. Jones' article on cottage gardens, apparently, 
An intuitive faculty on the part of their makers gave results for the 
repetition of which it is impossible to lay down definite laws. The 

charm of many such cottage gardens, is beyond analysis, 

and their attractiveness is due to the personal influence of those who have 
cared for them; villagers felt what was right to do, and ideas came 
naturally through intimate relation with the soil. That is as it should 
be: gardens, as houses, ought to reflect the personality of their owners. 
The vegetable beds, in which lay the real, "material value of the cottage 
gardens, were tended as carefully as the plots given up to flowers. Be- 
tween the narrow paths would be rows of beans, peas, cabbages, and 
roots, with here and there an old-fashioned fruit tree and bushes of 
currants and gooseberries. In shady places rhubarb flourished, and 
nuts were in the boundary hedge. Near the house, flowers bloomed, 

and their fragrance was wafted within The entrance 

path was frequently paved with the handiest material the locality 
afforded, and many charming effects in stone, brick, and cobbles may 

be seen Village gardens, too, had their clipped work 

in yew and box, and much of it can still be seen The 

deep green of these trees (and hedges) afford excellent backgrounds 
for the display of flowers. Some allege that yews and box harbour 
insects and pests, deprive plants growing near of nutriment, and make 
the successful growing of flowers in close proximity an impossibility. 
But that cannot always be so, for flowers in such positions in cottage 

gardens flourish amazingly Here flowers come and go as 

the seasons pass, — snowdrops, crocuses, early tuhps, and \aolets. With 
the advancing season come the columbines, pinks, roses, and the brave 
show of summer blossoms, and autumn days are rich with fragrance. 

. . . _ As time goes by, the old cottages and their trim gardens 

continue to add beauty to the countryside. The garden gates, as in 



6 

days of long ago, open on to narrow paths that lead to those ancient 
structures, the village homes of England, changeless objects amid a 
changing world. 

Cottage homes in the open country rather than in villages will be discussed 
first, as these allow greater freedom for planning and are thus more suitable for 
study. In a general way, the scheme of arrangement for the main rooms of a 
house and for the principal outdoor areas cannot vary greatly in small homes, as 
the fundamental principles of arrangement necessarily remain the same insofar 
as the homes are used similarly, and regardless of whether they are in the city or 
in the country. If they are used differently, or if physical conditions change 
radically, as, for example, the climates of various sections, sometimes do, then 
plans will have to be changed accordingly and to afford the requisite convenience. 
Such changes, however, will, for the most part, deal only with details. Also, 
plans should aim to ameliorate the rigors of a climate while at the same time allow- 
ing the greatest enjoyment of life in any climate. Good planning aims to make 
the most of the physical conditions of any situation, as, for example, the planning 
for space was found very important in the arrangement of small city lots. As 
city lots are comparatively limited in size and usually narrower than is desirable, 
they are always more difficult to plan than coimtry lots. Plans for houses should 
invariably be correlated with the plans for the land which is adjacent to them, 
under all conditions and in all situations, but in a city one must also in a measure 
correlate his plans and make them conform to the customs of the street and even 
to those of the neighborhood, and must as well, take into consideration the con- 
ditions on adjoining properties. In the open country, the nearest houses are 
usually too far away to require consideration. For a certainty one has greater 
liberty in planning a home in the country; nevertheless, in the fundamentals of 
planning and in the determination of the relationships between the more import- 
ant elements of the scheme, he will find many helpful suggestions in the fore- 
going chapters. 

Undoubtedly country homes afford greater liberty for planning, and further- 
more, there is assurance of a greater degree of success. It is not always possible 
to enclose a city yard sufficiently to hide all the unsightly objects on adjoining 
lots; and even if surrounding homes are attractively planned, it is difficult to 
achieve more than a limited degree of privacy. One must start by allowing 
space for high and dense borders, and then time and care will be necessary for 
these to reach maturity and before any interesting development can be attained 
in the yard. In city lots one starts with no assets but rather with many handi- 
caps, while in the country he has few if any difficulties to overcome, and if he 
has chosen his site carefully, he may even start with the growth of years already 
accomplished and with existing conditions full of interest and suggestion and 
only awaiting development. 

In some respects one finds, in the open country, conditions quite the opposite of 
those in the city, and, in fact, some that even demand a reversal of sortie of the 
aforesaid principles of planning. In contrast with the closely built-up con- 
ditions in cities, the surroundings of a country lot are open. Even old woods, 
consisting of tall trees and with little undergrowth, such as those that have been 
pastured, appear open. In fact, if a lot in the country is surrounded by fields, 
pastures, or old woodlands, these conditions seem open in comparison with a 



city environment. This openness of environment, in. combination with the isola- 
tion, and even loneHness, of the country, requires a more densely planted or at 
least a less open yard than is desirable in the city. A low and spreading house 
quite surrounded by gardens, orchards, and like growth, and with tall trees over- 
hanging the house, all unite to suggest shelter and protection. In the city one 
plans to obtain space and the effect of roominess, as land, and especially an ample 
frontage, is at a premium; but with a reversal of these conditions, however 
interesting may be the broad expanse of the country, it is still more interesting 
if seen from a snug home. A gardenlike setting for a cottage is almost essential 
for its best appearance, and a very much sheltered setting is equally essential for 
either a homelike atmosphere or a garden background. 

One often finds, in descriptions of country homes, the expression 'the snug 
cottage.' The attractiveness of the cottage in a garden may be the result of 
several factors: a suitable type of house, set low on the ground; a well-planned 
but picturesque grouping of all buildings; a compact and convenient arrange- 
ment of all elements, without, however, the effect of being studied. Likewise 
necessary are an abundance of flowers, a well-stocked kitchen-garden, an orchard, 
high and thick hedges about the boundaries; and from without, but a glimpse of 
all this to be seen through a simple gateway. The cottager of long ago could not 
afford to waste his land, and to him a front lawn was unknown. If his cottage 
was not directly on the road, walls or hedges enclosed the ground between the 
road and the house, and this area became a garden of a grass plot. But what- 
ever may be the best plan for the details of a cottage yard, it is generally safe to 
say that, after allowing sufficient space for high and dense borders, the major 
part of the area should be devoted to gardens, orchards, shrubberies, and the 
like. It is not inconsistent with such an effect, however, to allow glimpses of 
interesting parts of the surrounding country from suitable vantage points. 

However small a country house, it is not apt to look as well if tall and narrow as 
it will if low and spreading in its proportions. It is possible for many st^des of 
cottages to be very picturesque and attractive in themselves ; but to appear well 
in their garden setting they must have a country aspect, and also must be set low 
on the ground. Rural homes especially should be intimately related to their 
surrounding gardens, and therefore the first floor of the house should be but a 
step above the garden level. Usually it is best to keep the first-floor level low, 
and also to plan a low and spreading house. The style of the house is an im- 
portant factor in the appearance of the whole property, as it is very prominent. 
It should therefore have a native aspect, express the amplitude of the country 
without appearing too elaborate, and, above all, the house should seem at home 
in its garden. 

Apparently there are no factors limiting the position of the country house ex- 
cept those of good planning within the lot. The position of the house will, of 
course, determine both the size of the areas on its several sides and also the uses 
of these areas. The allotment of the space desired and the convenience of the 
whole plan should be borne in mind while the house is being placed and its first- 
floor plan determined. However, as the frontages of lots in the country are 
generally more ample than those of city lots, there may be a great deal of latitude 
in the placing of the house, and, in fact, in the planning of the entire lot. Front- 
age on country roads, and even in villages, is not so expensive as in cities, and if 



8 

lots are purchased in the midst of farm land, the farmer usually prefers for his 
convenience in farming in the surrounding fields, to sell a long frontage with a 
shallow depth, rather than the reverse. For a certainty, lots of ample frontage 
are more desirable than those that are narrow and deep, for they are better 
adapted to practical and attractive development. And, after all, why go to the 
country and still live on a narrow lot? If for a cottage home a lot of ample 
frontage may be assumed, then with this greater latitude for location, the de- 
sirability of a low-spreading house, will be evident. 

If lots are chosen along or near good roads, for reasons of accessibility, high 
hedges and heavy border plantings will be necessary to exclude the noise and the 
dust incident to modem traff c, and may at the same time serve to relate the house 
less to the road and more to the grounds within. High hedges along the road- 
way, as well as about the greater part of the boundaries, will contribute much to 
the desired character of the cottage home; but usually one need not hesitate to 
place his house where he prefers. He may even turn it endwise, or in fact at any 
angle to the road. In short, there does not appear to be any exterior condition 
that limits or in any way particr.larly affects the ground plans of isolated proper- 
ties, unless it be that of fine distant views. 

However, it should be noted that to face a building precisely at right angles to a 
particr.lar line of view is likely to result in an appearance of conventionality, 
which is altogether unsuitable for a cottage garden. Furthermore, in a boundary 
hedge, apertures which are directly opposite the sides of a house, that is, in an 
axial relation, make a yard appear more open than if they are in an oblique re- 
lation. An exposed effect is apt to result from too many apertures in the hedges, 
and furthermore they interrupt the interior scenery. From the windows of a 
cottage, a single glimpse of the country beyond one's boundaries is usually 
sufficient. Walks m.ay lead from the house to points in the yard or along the 
boundaries whence the country may be seen to best advantage, and at times it 
may seem worth while to devote one whole side of a cottage to these distant 
outlooks. A pleasing distant prospect, advantageously fram'^d by a narrow 
aperture in the boundary hedge, will ordinarily be more interesting than a view of 
wide expanse. However carefully planned, if the view is apparently incidental, 
it is less obvious and therefore contributes to the unstudied effect of the scheme. 
Hence, it does not appear that cottages need be turned to any precise angle with 
respect to the lines of view; in fact, the more incidental relation of the cottage to 
possible views is thought to present those views more interestingly; moreover, 
the necessity for openings directly opposite the sides of the cottage is thereby 
obviated, and the enclosed and sheltered effect within is preserved. Thus it is 
evident that the plans for rural homes are concerned mainly with conditions with- 
in their boundaries. 

Frequently a cottage set near the highway, even in a comer near one of the 
side boundaries is the most accessible to the road, as well as allowing the most 
advantageous and desirable division of the space within. Whether or not a 
cottage is much in evidence from the highway, it is usually best to place it nearer 
to the road than to the rear boundary, for reasons of accessibility and because 
the quieter area in the rear of the cottage will then be larger. The space be- 
tween the road and the cottage may be interestingly treated, whether hedged or 
open to view from the road, and in spite of the fact that the face of the building 



9 

may be at an angle to the road rather than parallel with it. However, this dis- 
cussion of the cottage home is not intended to imply that principles for its plan- 
ning may be laid down with the same definiteness as were the rules governing the 
planning of city homes. In fact, quite the contrary is true, for in the country 
one is freer to make the most of his situation and to indulge his own taste. It 
may be possible for one to generalize in a description of the cottage home, but 
principles for its planning must consist largely of exceptions to statements in the 
foregoing chapters. In general, it may be said that all that contributes to the 
suitable character of the property is good. But ever}'- situation and every ex- 
ample must be a law unto itself. 

A garage .and the other necessary small buildings should be connected with the 
house, in order to be accessible and convenient. Whether under the same roof 
as the house, or merely connected with it by means of architectural features, such 
as fences, arbors, or sheltered walks, the grouping of outbuildings and their 
connection with the house may be made very attractive. Roof lines may be 
drawn out to cover one-story appendages, and the long, horizontal lines of a 
house may thus be effectively emphasized. Moreover, outbuildings may be 
more or less connected and arranged to surround a courtyard, with a covered 
passage through them or with an arbor around their outside. The necessary 
activities within the house and in the j^ard should be simplified, whether or not 
one expects to keep numerous help, and the outbuildings required for supplies, 
water, or lighting equipment, workshop, garage, or livestock should all be closely 
related to the house. It should not be necessary to go outdoors in the perform- 
ance of household duties. The garage, especially, should have a direct conneo 
tion with the house. Many old farm houses in the East have interesting arrange- 
ments of their sheds and other outbuildings, but the arrangement of these struc- 
tures about a courtyard is peculiar to the South and to southern countries. In 
hot climates, stone-paved courtyards, with or without arbors, are the scene of 
many household activities, and are also attractive as architectural features. 
In connection with a cottage home, its usefulness justifies the existence of a 
courtyard. The cottage, with all its necessars'^ structures, should combine to 
form an interesting and picturesque group. If the general scheme here suggested 
for the buildings is followed, and if they are located near the public road, it will 
be. possible to place the garage at the edge of, or very near, the highwaj', thereby 
saving road area as well as escaping the,diflPculty usually caused by the heavy 
snows in the northern section of the country. 

The important outdoor features to be accommodated in the cottage property 
are: gardens for flowers, gardens for vegetables, or gardens combining flowers 
with fruits and vegetables, a small lawn, a service area, and possibl}^ orchards 
and meadows. The arrangement of these principal outdoor areas and the plan 
for the first floor of the cottage are quite interdependent, but as a rule there are no 
exterior conditions that limit the formulation of general plans. In short, one is 
without restrictions, and may make the most of the conditions to be found on any 
particular lot; and, however he may interpret these in the light of his own ideas, 
the result will be as good as it is pleasing and practical. If a high and dense border 
is made along the highway, the presence of the road does not affect the arrange- 
ment. Therefore, a garden or a lawn, or even an orchard, may as well occupy 
the space ordinarily called the front yard, because there is no area corresponding 



10 

to the front yard of city properties. An entrance walk may have to traverse it; 
but an entrance under old apple trees, or one opening upon a small grass court 
through a gateway in the hedge, or an approach through a hedged or flower- 
bordered garden walk, may be made very charming. In any case, the entrance 
walk may be given a fitting introduction to a cottage home. 

There are no conditions which demand a definite use for the area adjacent to 
the road. In any part of a cottage yard one should find a picture of simple 
country life, though not without evidences of comfort and plenty. Apparently 
there are no conventions governing the assignment of area on any side of a cottage, 
although one may prefer the sunny sides for some purposes and shady sides for 
others. The conditions already existing in any particular area may suggest its 
uses. For a certainty, interesting bits of rustic scenery, as, for instance, small 
brooks or springs, fine old trees, and the like should be given prominence. A 
ver>' fine tree may well be the dominant feature of a lot and determine the entire 
scheme. A new house cleverly placed with relation to an old tree, will be greatly 
enhanced thereby, as it will receive an appearance of age and a homelike at- 
mosphere. Old trees of any kind are decidedly an asset, and unless there is an 
abundance of them, a plan should carefully relate the house or arrange the yard 
so as to take advantage of their presence. Of course, also, one must know when 
it is best to remove trees for the good of those remaining or to obtain the best re- 
sults for the whole scheme. Some trees will look best near or overhanging a 
house, and others in an orchard or in a small meadow ; and nut trees or old fruit 
trees are not only of value for what they bear, but are especially desirable by 
reason of their character — so suitable to a cottage. An old apple tree or cherry 
tree should be prized for its blossoms and the type of its beauty, whether or not 
its fruit is good. So the existing growth on a property may be an important 
factor in the location of and plan of a cottage or in determining the best location 
for gardens, lawns, or other features. 

A spring or a stream may be left as it is or its natural beauty enhanced by the 
addition of plants thriving in or near water. As a feature, running water is an 
asset and should not be destroyed, but rather incorporated in the scheme, and, 
if in any way changed it should be enhanced. In fact, the natural contour of the 
entire lot, if it has been carefully selected, may to a large extent be used as it was 
found. Thus in this respect as well, a plan for a house and yard should be con- 
ceived with a view to making the most of the original contours. In a meadow, 
the natural roll of the land may be more suitable than it is possible to make in a 
new grade, but to say the least, great expense is saved if any portion of the land 
can be used as it is found. Of course, if a cottage is placed on sloping ground, it 
is better to plan the gardens and the lawn above and meadows or orchards be- 
low, as the grade of the former should be more nearly that of the cottage. It is 
not wise to cut or fill about growth which is to be saved. Upon the amount of 
cutting or filling, and the hardiness of the trees, will depend the degree of damage 
done them and the results. But to fill about old trees sufficiently to cover the 
base of their trunks as they spread into their roots and into the ground is to 
destroy their natural aspect and much of their beauty. Small lawns must be 
comparatively flat to be serviceable, and gardens likewise usually are made on 
one level or on several levels; and if the contour of the ground is not suitable in 
the areas where gardens and lawns seemingly must go, then grading must be re- 



11 

sorted to. In someinstances, very interesting gardens have been made upon very 
uneven ground. Rocky outcrops and very stony ground have at times been selected 
for cottage sites, as these are not good for farming, and, on the other hand, offer 
possibihties for very picturesque cottage settings. All of such natural advantages 
should be cleverly turned to good purpose. The characteristics of a situation are" 
the factors which make for individuality in the result. Both time and money is 
saved if one takes the utmost advantage of original conditions — trees, native 
shrubbery, streams, rocky outcrops, and the shape of the land. A scheme thus 
based upon and even developing the conditions at hand, has an air of simplicity. 
In view of the liberty with which one may plan such country homes, that their 
plans should carefully be fitted to original conditions would seem both possible 
and highly desirable. 

It does seem vain indeed to attempt a description or an analysis of cottage 
gardens. Writers gifted with the ability and genius to paint word pictures might 
describe individual gardens, but the charm of the gardens has been said to lie in 
their individuality, and therefore, however inspiring such descriptions might be, 
new gardens could not be patterned after them. What, then, may one say of these 
gardens, beyond a few generalizations? It already has been stated that they 
should appear to dominate the cottage, that they should be intimately related to 
it in elevation, and that beyond this there are few if any restrictions. Many 
old-world cottage gardens were situated between the house and the road, usually 
behind high walls and hedges or within lower, but none the less effective, barriers. 
These have been called ' ' doory ard gardens . ' ' This position was not an uncommon 
one for cottage gardens in this country, and in fact one may still see examples. 
If, in this area, considerable isolation is not possible, this location is not a suitable 
one for the garden; but the question of its enclosure appears to be the only restric- 
tion upon this use of the front yard. The extent of the area on this or the other 
sides of the cottage is not of any moment so long as the entire space in gardens 
does not appear small in proportion to the size of the lot. The gardens may be 
fitted into any odd angles or spaces, but a sufficient amount of the garden element 
is an important factor in the success of the entire scheme. 

Gardens must be relied on, in a large measure, to furnish the home setting. 
The space between the building and the lot lines, on two or three sides, may not 
actually represent a great extent of area; but gardens on the several sides of the 
cottage, even if confined entirely to these areas, may require more care than can 
conveniently be given them. If the cottage is at some distance from one bound- 
ary, hedges may be used to enclose a space sufficient for garden purposes, leaving 
the remainder of the area free for other uses. But it is important to devise some 
means of obtaining a gardenlike and flowering effect and one which will be some- 
what permanent and which will require the least amount of care. Flowering and 
fruiting woody plants should be scattered liberally through the flower beds. 
Vines on quaint trellises and not only deciduous flowering shrubs but also ever- 
greens should be used. Evergreens should be trimmed occasionally to prevent 
their growing too large, and the trimming will give them a horticultural and 
gardened aspect. In the winter, the greens and the cheerful color of the berries 
on shrubs and vines will indeed be appreciated. Strong-growing herbaceous 
plants may likewise be selected for those plots, as their hardy and spreading habits 
will not crowd out the shrubs and such plots will require but little care. The 



12 

use of tall-growing plants, of any kind though preferably of woody growth, is 
quite to be desired, especially if they do not, by reason of their numbers, closely 
crowd the house. The pattern of the garden need not be evident, and if it must 
be explored to be really seen, the garden will be all the more interesting. 

It is not considered necessary for rural gardens to appear perfectly dressed 
throughout their entire extent. If, immediately about the doorways, there is 
evidence of trimness and careful cultivation, an overgrown effect in the more 
remote comers should not be detrimental. The neglect apparent in dead and 
sickly plants, however, is to be distinctly differentiated from the appearance of a 
corner of flourishing anemonies or lemon lilies,which seemingly thrive best when un- , 
disturbed in their favorite situations. If the owner of a cottage garden is a true 
lover of plants, he will insist on having a considerable area devoted to gardens, 
and in such gardens he may well plant, if he wishes, a considerable collection. 
Tall-growing shrubs and small trees which do not submit gracefully to shearing 
may be incorporated in the hedges. Most shrubs do best when not crowded by 
others, as thus they are free to assume a more beautiful form and to flower 
and to fruit more profusety. One can readily imagine the amount of space which 
could be filled by even a restricted collection of flowering shrubs and evergreens, 
especially if allowance were made for the future spreading of these shrubs and 
for the planting of some herbaceous plants among them. A great variety of 
plants does not seem to be out of character with country gardens, but the flourish- 
ing condition of each plant is essential to the cheerful and thriving appearance of 
the garden. With high hedges and a plentiful use of wood}^ plants, the gardens 
will afford all conditions of exposure, sun, and shade; and it remains only for 
one to select carefully the proper situation for the native wild flowers, for the 
various bulbs, and for the cultivated garden flowers, all according to their prefer- 
ence for shade or sunlight. The well-known garden flowers, such as delphiniums, 
phlox, asters, and especially the biennials, — including foxgloves and campanulas, 
are essential to a garden and yet require more care than others. Therefore they 
may be used near the house, where, if less in quantitj^ their effect will be greater. 
It is possible, however, to have enough of the garden element to dominate the 
situation without inconveniencing oneself for its maintenance. 

The enemy of high hedges should realize that with such protection for gardens, 
orchards, or even meadows, many plants may be successfully grown which are 
not sufficiently hard}^ to endure the open. Not only will all plants grow far 
better in an enclosed garden, but a surprising number of plants unknown to a 
locality, and also perhaps many exotics which the lover of plants has collected in 
other parts, may be grown successfully in a well-enclosed garden. In an exposed 
location in the open country, considerable protection is needed for comfort and 
also for ordinary success in gardening. 

The term high hedge means one from ten feet high to the height of most trees. 
Considerable width must be allowed for a high hedge, not only for the healthy 
condition of the tall-growing shrubs and trees which compose it, but also to 
allow the development of sufficient density. A wealth of interesting vegetation 
may be grown in large hedges and perhaps no where else in a small yard. Much 
evergreen material is desirable, and trees like the hemlock, which wiU bear crowd- 
ing and still retain their lower branches, should be selected. Moreover, many 
berry-bearing shrubs and trees, such as the barberry, the mountain ash, the tall 



13 

viburnums, and the like, will thrive in a crowded hedgerow, where the hemlock 
and the other evergreens will furnish an ideal background for the color of the dog- 
wood and of the other spring flowers and fall fruit. Bittersweet and other fruit- 
ing vines may ramble over the hedges, draping and decorating them with varied 
effects during the passing seasons. Even if one begrudges ten or fifteen feet of 
width for boundaiy hedges, the birds will appreciate them. In the open country, 
an enclosed cottage garden becomes a veritable sanctuary for birdlife. 

If, for hedges, those plants are selected which do not root too vigorously, no 
trouble will be found in growing other plants close to them. Of course it is 
necessary to provide plenty of good soil for the hedge as well as for the plants of 
the garden, else the hedges will extend their roots to the garden. Paths are de- 
sirable along all hedges, especially while the hedges are young, as better light is 
thus afforded their lower branches and density is encouraged where it is most 
needed. Furthermore, such paths will allow space into which the hedge may 
spread, and since all plants have strict limits concerning the width required for 
any height, the hedges cannot be trimmed too narrow, lest the lower branches 
die. Interior hedges need not be so high, of course, depending only on the 
effects desired. But in every respect, the effective barrier seems essential. 

It is evident that some pavement must be provided about the house from which 
it is possible to enjoy the gardens. Adjoining this pavement, the gardens may 
be somewhat lower-growing and, perhaps, better dressed. It is not considered 
necessary, however, or in most cases even desirable, to have the garden walks 
related in any conventional manner to this pavement, which is usually on the 
same level as the garden. Nevertheless, there will always be exceptions, and at 
times it may be desirable to have more openness through the garden on the axis 
of the house. It cannot be definitely affirmed that regularity of the paths or of 
the size or shape of garden plots is either good or bad, as that which is suitable 
depends entirely on the conditions governing each situation. Irregularity of 
the paths and a decided variation in the size of the plots will in many cases look 
best and also be more convenient for the arrangement of the plants. Some old 
gardens look as though the plants had been arranged first and the paths subse- 
quently arranged about them. Some plants do best in large masses, and others, 
with a tendency to spread and become a nuisance, may be more easily confined 
in small plots that are circumscribed by paths. Sometimes greater interest may 
be afforded small garden areas if, because of the irregularity of the walks, but 
little of the garden is at any one time disclosed. Walks may be grassed, sanded, 
gravelled, or even paved in some manner. The surface should not appear to 
be expensive, but should be unostentatious and made of local material. The 
necessity for pavement is felt to exist principally near the cottage; and while any 
pavement should have a simple aspect, it should also be practical for the uses for 
which it is primarily intended. 

Lawns of ample dimensions do not seem to be necessary for small homes in 
ehe country. Children will always prefer to play in the fields and woods, where 
they may be free from restraint and where there is likewise ample freedom for the 
txercise of their imagination. A modest home in the country may comprise 
sufficient land for a small orchard or a meadow, or even for both, and this will 
furnish the necessary playground and one far better than a lawn. With open 
land all about, the need for an expression of spaciousness within the limits of the 



14 

home is not felt. Some small area in good turf is a pretty feature and is ordi- 
narily considered useful. The bordering hedges alone may surround it, or it may 
be given a gardenlike aspect by means of flowers against the hedges. Small 
lawns may combine open turf areas with areas of flowers, thus providing that 
which is necessary for a lawn and gardens while at the same time redvicing the 
size of the area requiring careful maintenance. To be useful, however, a turf 
plot should be as level as possible; and no more turf should be included than can 
be thoroughly prepared and beautifully maintained. A small lawn should not be 
unkempt; but if well cared for, it may be very much of a decoration. 

A considerable extent of land is never undesirable and at times may be very 
advantageous. Interesting bits of scenery are desirable acquisitions, and at 
times the interesting features that one may want to include in his purchase do 
not lie so near as to be included in as small a parcel of land. However, if several 
acres are purchased, it is not wise to plan extensive gardens and lawns about the 
house, as the effect which is sought is more consistent with a small than with a 
large area. With larger lots, one may well devote the space in excess of that 
needed for the pleasure ground and the service area, to an orchard and a meadow. 
Small bits of woodland should be allowed to remain in their natural condition 
and should be devoted to native plants. 

A small orchard is an attractive as well as a useful feature, and furthermore, 
it is equally attractive and useful even when it is not as carefully maintained as a 
lawn must be. Likewise it is desirable to include in one's small domain a bit 
of meadow, especially if it contains fine trees. Somewhere about every country 
home there sjhould be a variety of nut trees, and while these may be used for shade 
trees about the house or in the service court, a meadow affords space for more of 
them and for a greater variety. If orchards or meadows are extensive, or if they 
are not provided with hedges like those of the gardens, then, near the house, 
large groups of tall shrubs or massive trees should be so arranged as to permit 
satisfactory outlooks into these more open parts of the property. However, 
the effect of too much openness about the house is undesirable. It is unimportant 
how the ground of these areas lies with respect to the level of the house. Views 
will be equally interesting if the grade of the surrounding areas is considerably 
lower, and when this is the case it is easier to drain the gardens and to provide 
good drainage for the house. But in planning a cottage and its setting, it matters 
little whether the grounds are very limited, or are more extensive and include an 
orchard and a meadow. Orchards and meadows are not essential to a cottage 
setting, as the rural outlook is generally attractive, whether it includes one's 
own or a neighbor's land. 

The relation of a rural property to the country round about with respect to 
views might furnish material for considerable difference of opinion. Many 
persons will say, "Why go to the country and then hedge yourself in?" Those 
persons who prefer to live on a hilltop and to command an uninterrupted sweep 
of the horizon will never know the appeal of the intimacy and charm which it is 
possible to create under some such conditions as have already been described. 
Those who prefer the hilltop home find it difficult to appreciate the interest and 
picturesqueness of vistas and restricted views, as compared with an uninterrupted 
panorama. Limited views bi the country through openings in the boundary 
plantings may very likely be pleasing, although there is some difference of opinion 



15 

in this matter. If one lives in the country all the year around, he is likely to 
become less sensible to the beauty of the country. For most city folk having 
summer or year-round homes in the country, some opportunity for glimpses of 
rural landscapes is probably desirable, however. And, if the necessary' openings 
do not make the whole scheme too open, such views contribute greatly to the 
interest of the home. It may be better to have the views apparently merely 
accidental rather than on axial relations with windows and doors, and in the 
garden hedges, of course, one shotild never make breaches to provide for views 
from the house. If in any quarter the views are more important than the gar- 
dens, then the gardens should have been placed elsewhere in the beginning. 
Or perhaps, in some such cases, walks may lead through gateways in the hedges 
to points without, and through these the scenery may be enjoyed. 

Much might be said of details which are particularly suitable to homes of this 
character. Architectural details, such as walls, fences, gates, trellises and paving 
patterns of the walks, all contribute greatly to the atmosphere of a place, if they 
are well-conceived and cleverly made. Likewise, a nice selection of the kinds 
of plants for all situations is equally important. For example, old apple or other 
fruit trees of interesting character, and walnut or hickory trees, all of which may 
be useful as well as beautiful, are more suitable for shade trees near the house than 
are fancy varieties of shade trees or even native trees useful only for their shade. 
A majority of the plants of foreign aspect, such as the effect produced by an al- 
most exclusive use of fancy evergreens, will suggest city gardens rather than a 
country home and will also look too studied. The decorative value of appro- 
priate plants and also that of interesting architectural details is needed and is 
very important in establishing the desired character of country homes. But 
neither the planting nor the architectural details should be elaborate or appear 
costly, though they should be apparently useful. If they can be clever and yet 
look "homemade" they will very likely be good. 

When a walk is to be made, one should consider the way in which it is to be used, 
and with this point of view decide whether it should have grass, gravel, brick, or 
stone paving. If it is to be an important walk and to be used in all weather, 
material should be selected which will afford dry walking, ease in shovelling snow, 
and, in short, be practical for its intended use. If it is merely a garden walk, 
less effort will be necessary in its construction. If paving is to be used, local 
material will be in better taste than some kind which is unusual and apparently 
imported from a distance. If, on the property, there happens to be any old 
building material, such as used brick, stone, or the like, this may be advantageous- 
ly used, especially if laid in some interesting pattern; and it will also make a 
serviceable walk, which will bear witness to both the economy and the art im- 
pulse of the maker. Old material is always interesting, as age and use have 
worn away the harshness of its line and color. The evidence of the handiwork of 
the owner makes an appeal, as the personal and individual aspect of a garden is 
thereby increased. But to expect an owner to be his own carpenter, black- 
smith, mason, and gardener, is demanding a great deal. In the days of crafts- 
men, work of this kind was easily obtained in all the country villages. Now, 
skilled laborers have lost most of their individuality, and men are machines 
rather than craftsmen. However, if one has seen interesting details of simple 
design, is able to draw them, or can obtain the designs from books or from other 



16 

sources, — then of course he can have made attractive walks, gateways, garden 
trellises, and many other details which contribute in a large measure toward the 
success of a cottage garden. It must be admitted, that the design of such detail 
is most difficult. However, to some extent it is necessary. 

In the preceding attempt at an analysis of the cottage home, which is, after all, 
but an assumed type, the aim has been primarily to show the independence of 
planning possible under such conditions, and also to picture the character, or 
total effect, which may result in the finished product. Necessarily many state- 
ments have been made which may lead one to the conclusion that, after all, 
cottage gardens are not such erratic, vague, and indefinable productions of man 
as they might at first appear. If, however, these descriptions have made a 
somewhat clarified picture in the mind of the reader, it is because the details and 
examples used have been assumed to be common to most gardens of this character. 
It should be realized that actually one cannot make such an assumption. Anal- 
ysis of details may contribute toward the clarity of the general picture. Gen- 
eralizations may recall to the reader similar things he has seen, which will also 
add their touch to the picture. Contrasts with homes which are quite unlike 
may check one who has moved to a totally new and different environment from 
repeating that which he has become accustomed to in the old. But for that which 
is actually completed probably no rules can be made. 

A cottage garden, to be most beautiful, must be the result of a truly artistic 
impulse. Nevertheless, many have been made, and may still be made, 
which, while not as beautiful as they might be, are still interesting in 
some degree. That they shall be interesting to their owners is, of course, most 
important. One should not expect to prodtice satisfactory results in a short 
time, as time is, and always has been, an important factor in their making. 
It may be possible for one to purchase an idea from an artist, to engage skilled 
men and to spare no expense to obtain the effect of age at the beginning, and to 
engage the services of a skilled gardener to care for it and to mould it as it grows. 
But this would be mere "nature faking," and whil-e such gardens may be interest- 
ing, and such an appreciation of simple beauty very meritorious, still, if it were 
possible, one would prefer to see such simple homes become common and there- 
fore the expression of the individual. Perhaps this hope is too ideal and de- 
pendent on too many conditions that are non-existent today, — among which the 
most sadly wanting are good architectural models and the carpenter-architect 
of taste and genius who lived a hundred years ago. Some old houses may be 
copied and successfully adapted to new situations; but as a rule, it will even 
be hard to find an architect gifted not only with the skill but also with the sym- 
pathy and the understanding necessary for the handling of such difficult and un- 
profitable problems. But the answer to all these difficulties, is improvement of 
public taste, of the coming of which there is every assurance. It matters little 
how we achieve better living conditions, but as they are necessary to our com- 
fort, — both our convenience and our pleasure, — we are likely, by some means, 
to obtain them. If there is a genuine desire, and especially if this is community 
or a country wide desire, it is safe to assume it will be realized. 

Conditions in villages vary markedly. In some villages the lots are narrow, 
and, worse yet, the new houses are copied from the poorest models of the city! 
The lots in some villages erow more and more narrow as the distance from the 



17 

center of the town increases. This may be the result of building the houses along 
the main roads only, and perhaps, with the thought of saving footsteps to the 
village stores. But it would be better to subdivide the farm land between the 
main roads and thus accommodate many homes within but a short distance of 
the village center. No doubt the cost of frontage in villages seems as high to 
the villagers as does the cost of city frontage to those who live in cities or in sub- 
urbs. Nevertheless, in most villages in this country the average lot width is 
sufficiently ample for interesting developments of the yard. And if the frontages 
are not as wide as might be desired, the lots are at least apt to be deeper thanmost 
city lots; and while space in this relation to the house, may not be so advan- 
tageous as if at the side, in village lots this may prove a more convenient arrange- 
ment. Villages in this country are rarely as closely built up as those in old 
European towns, or as our American cities. Furthermore, village houses either 
are, or at least should be, lower than the average city house. Therefore, after 
one has set aside the space necessary for service courts and a small lawn, the re- 
mainder, and the greater part, of the yard may well be made into gardens of some 
kind. 

There should be a reasonable relation between house plan and the yard plan, 
but very likely the conditions in villages are seldom so limiting. If it is possible 
to conceive of schemes for village homes as combining both city and country 
characteristics, and if one is free to select ideas and adapt principles from the 
rules governing either of these conditions, according as his individual problem 
may require, he should encounter little difficulty in the planning of his property. 
Some village lots are so restricted that builders are obliged to conform to con- 
ditions as strict as those prevalent in cities, both in the size of the area purchased 
and in respect to the proximity of the dwellings on adjoining lots. In other 
cases, where wider frontages prevail, houses may be scattered and be small and 
low, — all factors making for an environment very similar to that of the open 
country. 

There are plenty of interesting examples of village homes in the old towns of 
the East, and while their original gardens have seldom been preserved, a suggestion 
of their former glory sometimes lingers. Among these examples are to be found 
many plans which differ widely. Sometimes the houses are placed directly 
on the sidewalk; and, depending on the width of the lots, either the houses extend 
across the entire frontage, or sideyard space is left for gardens. There are ex- 
amples of comer lots with the house directly on the sidewalks of both streets. 
These plans are very economical in the use of space. By this arrangement, the 
front door of the house may be on the main street, while the doors to the kitchen 
and sheds may face on the side street; the yard space then remains unbroken, 
and a small lawn for the laundry and the play-yard may adjoin the kitchen in 
the rear, leaving the greater part of the yard for gardens. The gardens in these 
village homes frequently extend to the street fences, and thus contribute greatly 
to the character of the village streets. When many tall-growing plants are used, 
one cannot actually see far into the gardens, and thus for the dooryards at the 
side, which adjoin the living rooms, and for the greater part of the gardens, there 
is sufficient privacy. However, privacy in village homes is not as important a 
factor as it is in city homes. 

There are other examples of houses set back from the street; and frequently, 



18 

in such cases, gardens occupy the entire front yard; in other cases, flowers are 
used only to border the entrance walk or in groups against the house, the re- 
mainder of the yard being lawn. Other attractive front yards are found to be 
very like those described as suitable for suburban homes. On some village streets 
there is no adherence to a building line, and the varied fronts of the lots produce a 
decidedly picturesque effect, quite suitable, at times, for a village. Sometimes 
the more pretentious village houses have fronts of markedly symmetrical design; 
and frequently these houses are situated midway across their lot widths, and 
with very good effect. Also there are numerous examples of gardens made in the 
form of borders flanking long straight walks — walks which at times are related to 
doors or windows and which at other times are apparently laid without regard to 
the house. While most houses exemplify plans laid out on straight lines parallel 
with the lot boundaries, a few are found with plans of no regularity whatever. 
The attractiveness of these village homes lies, in fact, in the variable nature of 
their plans. Any attempt to analyze them is as futile as the effort to set forth 
rules for country cottages. But we are fully aware of the appeal of these village 
homes. Those which remain in a good state of preservation — and even those 
merely suggesting their original condition — display sufficient evidence to prove 
this true. In the villages, the situation is quite the same as that in the country: 
city restrictions hold only with respect to the utilization of space and in the 
essential relations between the main indoor and the outdoor features. The 
effect of openness, so essential to city lots, does not seem necessary in small 
villages. The whole village is the children's playground, and vacant lots abound 
as well as nearby open country. Also, in contrast with life in a city, village life 
is more that of a community. Then, after all is said and done, when one may 
plan unhampered by restrictions, his prime object should be a village home in a 
garden setting. 



CHAPTER VI 
ARRANGEMENT OF A FARMSTEAD 

A farmhouse and its yard may not be planned as a residence alone, as is the 
case of the other properties so far discussed. A farm is a home and a business 
combined. It is therefore seldom possible to think of and to plan the activities, 
of the home life as separate from the work of the farm. The farmhouse should 
be centrally located on the farm, whether immediately on a public road or back 
within the farm lands; and about the house as a center should be grouped the 
farm work-buildings, the yards for fowls and the paddocks for stock, the vege- 
table gardens, the small orchards, and, in fact, all things that require close care, 
whether they relate to the farm produce or to the home supply. The live- 
stock paddocks and the most-used areas on the farm will -have to be near the 
house to be convenient. Can farmsteads, then, be planned to be practical and 
convenient, and still be attractive as homes? 

An orderly arrangement of buildings and area's is always the most convenient 
one, and this arrangement is in itself good looking and most easily kept neat. 
The farm buildings usually represent an even larger valuation than the farmer's 
house, and therefore it is good business policy to keep them in repair. A compact 
group of well-kept farm buildings in close proximity to the house may be very 
attractive. For the sake of the outlook from the house it is better to have the 
paddocks on the far sides of the barns ; but to give paddocks the protection de- 
sirable for them, and also to place them out of sight from the house, and to the 
leaward, that unpleasant odors may cause no annoyance, may require more re- 
arrangement of house and barns than is possible if these buildings are already 
established. Practical and convenient plans for farm buildings and their ad- 
jacent areas will unquestionably derive some degree of attractiveness from their 
orderly arrangement; but for any farm there is usually possible more than one 
practical arrangement, one which is both practical and which will present a good 
appearance both from the house and from the road. 

The importance of careful planning in any project or business is usually con- 
sidered necessary for the achievement of satisfactory profits ; and the orderliness 
generally accompanying successful farming or other well-organized enterprises, 
has, no doubt, likewise been observed. But from the point of view of the home 
itself, the possibility of pleasant living conditions should not be disregarded. 
Attractive settings for home life are important in the country as well as in the city, 
and the opportunities in the country are greater. When one lives long amid 
pleasant surroundings, he realizes the value of their influence, and becomes con- 
vinced that such inspiration is needed for his work and for his rest. In the home, 
it would seem, should start the real development of the country. Home life 
must be wholesome, full of opportunity, and attractive, in order to sustain inter- 
est and make successful a business enterprise in the country. Outward signs in 
villages and on farms in a large measure indicate whether thriving and contented 
conditions exist in the life of the families and of the community. Well-cultivated 
farm lands always look well, but the yards about the farmhouses require some 

3 



care and well deserve it. Farm homes should not strive to look like city homes, 
in order to appear prosperous or attractive, nor will they if their owners are true 
exponents of country life. 

Farmhouses with a tendency to be low and spreading look better than those 
built tall. Generous porches will add to the appearance of lowness. The style 
of old farmhouses commonly called "colonial" is appropriate for the country, 
and, with some modification to adapt it to the convenience of modern houses, 
this type is advocated. It is simple, appears substantial, and is without ornament 
except , perhaps, for such details as are essentially a part of its construction. Need- 
less and showy ornament has no place about a farmhouse. If one thinks he can 
afford to ornament his farmhouse, let his means be shown in better mouldings 
about the eaves, in better posts for his porches, and in well-designed doorways. 
The woodwork, inside and out, of many old farmhouses is better than can be 
bought nowadays from stock, and it is frequently bought and highly prized by 
city folk. When repaired and painted, this wood is as good as new and better 
seasoned. But farmhouses may be effectively decorated only by the improvement 
of their esential details. Simple and comfortable houses, painted inside and out 
in the conventional white, look far better than do fancy imitations of cheap city 
houses, gaudy with many colors without and glistening with varnish within. 
A countrylike house for the cotmtry is a good beginning and an important one. 

The best of houses appears to a disadvantage if standing in an open and ex- 
posed situation, at the mercy of summer sun and winter blasts. Both the neces- 
sary activities about the house and the recreation in the yard are afforded greater 
convenience and comfort if sheltered to a reasonable degree by windbreaks, or- 
chards, and carefully placed shade trees. The tree growth necessary for pro tection 
is usually sufficient to furnish a house with the setting essential to its good ap- 
pearance. Additional trees, shrubs, and flowers, well arranged to make an at- 
tractive and livable yard, will, no doubt, contribute in an even greater degree to 
the beauty of the farm home and of all that is a part thereof. A great deal of 
planting is not necessary to make a good-looking yard, and, as in the case of the 
house, simplicity should be the keynote of the yard. 

Farm home grounds should be planned to require but little care. The care of the 
yard is no such diversion to the farmer as is gardening to the city man ;f urther ,a yard 
will need the most care when other farm work is most pressing and when work- 
ing hours are necessarily long. Some gardening in the open air may at times be 
pleasant to the farmer's wife, but this should not be so arduous as to constitute 
an extra burden for her. Therefore, to begin with, the total space of the rural 
yard should not be greater than can easily be well kept. The planting should con- 
sists largely of trees — low-branching where they are to serve as backgrounds and 
windbreaks, and tall where only their shade is required. There is usually plenty 
of latitude for the selection of shrubs desirable for their flowers and fruit ; but, except 
for a few bushes about the house, shrubbery should be massed against the trees along 
the borders rather than scattered about, in order to keep the lawns clear and open 
and also to contribute to the density of the background. It must be remembered 
that for the greater part of the open season the shrubs will have no flowers, but that 
if they have showy fruit this will appear advantageously against the background. 
Open lawns with a few fine shade trees may be mown more easily than those 



covered with scattered clumps of bushes, and the "tree and lawn" scenery will 
look more fitting in that it is more country like. 

The home grounds are likely to be rectilinear in shape, as the surrounding 
fields and orchards must be thus to be practical. So far as the yard is concerned, 
its outline is of little importance. Unless the slope from the road to the house 
is very steep or irregular, the road should be laid out on a line paralleling the 
house or the division fences, and it should be kept to one side of the yard, prefer- 
ably that of the kitchen and working rooms, and should continue straight to the 
barnyard and outbtiildings in the rear. Roads should always follow the fence 
lines and should not cut either fields or lawns into irregular areas. Walks should 
be direct, with their lines determined by the routes most travelled. 

The parallelism of the walks with the lines of the house, of the road, or of the 
fences is of less importance, however, on the farmstead. They are business 
routes rather than the pleasure walks of a city garden; and if there is good reason 
for their direction, and if they are not raised too high above the level of the ground, 
they will look well . If the house has its work rooms on the side toward the entrance 
road, these walks will not need to cut across the lawn in order to furnish ready 
access to the farm buildings. Hence the natural result will be an unbroken lawn 
in front and on the side away from the road, with plantings mainly along the fences 
and massed, — a very simple and easily kept yard. 

While nowadays it is easy for farmer folk to reach the village or a nearby city 
for their recreation, nevertheless the greater part of their time must be spent at 
home, and it would be better if the homes were so attractive as, of themselves, 
to afford satisfactory recreation. Of course an attractive yard is of first im- 
portance as a proper setting for home life, especially in its refining and educating 
influence on the children. Hence it is worth while to develop a yard which will 
look more than merely passing well. To begin at the house, the doors as well 
as the windows should open on to the lawn. Porches overlooking this area will 
have a pleasant prospect and may be used for work and for occasions when one 
does not wish to sit in the front of the house. New houses should be built low 
on the ground, especially on the lawn side, as the fewer the steps between the 
ground and the first floor, the more easy will be the access to the out-of-doors. 
Many persons enjoy that part of the yard which is nearest the house and most 
seen from its windows, provided the trees and shrubs have been so arranged as 
to make it somewhat enclosed. In fact, a side yard may be made decidedly 
gardenlike with a good background of trees, shrubs in occasional recesses, and here 
and there flowers, grouped in quantities depending on the time one is willing to 
devote to them. If a side yard is not wholly open to view from the pubhc road, 
it may well be given a somewhat gardenesque treatment, thus affording both a 
pleasant place in which to sit outdoors and an agreeable outlook from the house. 
If it is easily accessible from the house and interesting and appealing in its ap- 
pearance, both the indoor and the outdoor life of the home will be made more 
pleasant. A home should be enjoyed, but it must first be made attractive. 

Usually from every farmhouse there are some more distant outlooks which 
are of particular interest. Also, as there is much of interest passing on the high- 
way, a more or less unobstructed view of the road is desirable. There may be 
objects on one's own farm, or on adjoining farms, which are uninteresting or are even 
unsightly; but with these notations in mind, one should so dispose the trees in 



groups or in masses or in a hedgerow as to permit an outlook where it is desirable, 
and to hide the uninteresting, or perhaps unsightly, objects; and, if possible, also 
plant windbreaks only in that quarter where the view of the surrounding country 
is the least interesting. One may wish to have an enclosed part of the yard either 
at the side, the back, or perhaps even toward the front of the house. At the same 
time, interesting distant outlooks may also lie in the same line of sight from the 
house as does the enclosed yard or garden. Of course one cannot look at a garden 
and at a distant view at the same time and fully enjoy each. Moreover, as one 
already has the view to start with, why not make the garden somewhere else in 
order to increase the number of interesting outlooks from the house? The garden 
too is spoiled if left open, as is necessary if distant views are to be arranged for 
across it. A desirable garden must be enclosed, or at least convey a sense of that 
privacy which is achieved by enclosure. A distant view appears surprisingly 
more interesting when a heavy border is planted on either side of it, just as a 
suitable frame enhances a picture. And considering the view, with its flanking 
masses of trees, as a framed picture, it should be remembered that the frame 
should not be particularly noticeable; hence the vegetation about these openings 
in a border should not be such as will be more prominent than is the scene in 
the distance which it is intended to frame. 

The point of view from which one should do most of his planning is the house. 
Ordinarily, the house is already built and the farm buildings more or less fixed 
as to position and uses. Furthermore, in some cases the buildings, necessarily 
the most important elements of apian, are so arranged as to make an ideal develop- 
ment very difficult. However, in accordance with some definite ideal, it is general- 
ly possible to somewhat ameHorate a few of these unfortunate conditions, and to 
plan for further improvement at some future time. Also, under most conditions, 
however unfavorable, it is possible to satisfy the essentials as to shelter and 
reasonable attractiveness of setting for a house. There are few farmhouses in- 
deed which, by the use of a few fine trees, carefully disposed, cannot be made to 
look like homes. If it is not possible to arrange for gardens and shrubberies 
within close view of the house, they may be equally interesting in a different 
aspect, even though necessarily more distant and not plainly seen from the house 
windows, or at least not so near as to be easily accessible. In choosing the plants 
for the yard, it has already been suggested that trees should be predominant. 
They are necessary for a satisfactory windbreak, and their height and size is 
likewise necessary to make for scenery in the yard which is in scale and also in 
chafacter with the surrounding landscape. It is highly desirable, also, to use 
many evergreens. Although they are not so suitable for shade as are some of the 
tall-growing and more spreading deciduous trees, in the borders evergreens are 
indispensable, and in winter they are both effective and cheerful. No foHage is 
the equal of the hemlock in color, in value, or in fine texture. Pines are interest- 
ing in themselves and some will grow faster than hemlocks, but as they get old 
their habits of growth are somewhat open and thus they do not in the end make 
as effective windbreaks as do the more dense-growing trees, unless perhaps they 
can be planted in wide groves. In the selection of trees for farm yards, native 
species should be the favorites. They may be collected about the farm, will be 
sure to grow better than most trees that are not indigenous, and may be relied 
upon to look well. If evergreens are not found in some particular locality, there 



are certain varieties which will grow in almost any locality if the conditions are 
made right for them. IJrequently, it is merely a matter of planting only the more 
hardy evergreen or deciduous species on the sides facing the worst winds. But 
in any case, horticultural and imported varieties of trees and shrubs should be 
used sparingly if at all. We do not lack for variety or for beauty in the native 
vegetation in any section of this country. 

In making a selection of shrubs, it is likewise possible to depend largely upon 
the native vegetation. Farmers usually dislike the native shrubs, as they are 
accustomed to grub them out of the fields and hedgerows; but a farmer in one 
section will pay a high price for a single bush which is strange to him, though 
very likely a common native plant, perhaps even an annoying weed, in another 
part of the country. Many of the shrubs used in the yards and grown by the 
nurseries, are merely natives of other parts of this country. There are, however, 
cultivated varieties of shrubs which, for their flowers or fruit, are quite indispen- 
sable about any home. A judicious selection of these horticultural varieties, such 
as the lilacs, is desirable, but it should be remembered that, for a greater part of 
the growing season, they will bear nothing but leaves. Therefore, shrubs should 
be selected which have good foliage, — thatis, foliage of no unusual tone of green, of 
small leaves rather than large, and dense. Trees or shrubs whose leaves fall 
very early are not desirable. Also plants with strange or peculiar foliage or of un- 
usual habits of growth, — in short, all plant freaks, — should be avoided. In the fall 
one expects to see foliage in brilliant colors, as this is a season of color ; but in spring 
or summer, green leaves are needed for a background for the flowers or fruit. 
Even if some of the shrub varieties have no showy flowers, the variation in the 
green of their foliage will be equally pleasing. 

About the house shrubs should be used rather sparingly. Single plants at 
some of the corners, and occasional groups look best. A house should look well 
of itself and should not need to be covered up with planting. If it is built too high 
out of the ground to appear well, falling about it is the only remedy, as the trouble 
is due to defective grading, not planting. To smother the house in planting, or 
to make it appear as though supported by bushes, is only to add error to error. 
The vegetation, therefore, should be confined mostly to the borders, and drawn 
out into the open lawn only where it is necesary to partially separate one part 
of the yard from another. All areas should be generally open and unobstructed. 

The additional study and development of the yard, in order to afford more than 
merely a barely passable setting for the house, should not add much to the amount 
of planting used, nor should it make the yard appear cluttered, nor materially 
affect the amount of care required. More livable yards result, for the most part, 
when merely a little more forethought is used in planning them. 

If one endeavors to think of places that have impressed him as being 
attractive, he may find it difficult to recall just how those places were laid out. 
It is most likely that the impression was one of its entirety rather than of its com- 
ponent parts, such as an elm tree, a few rose bushes, a garden seat, and a bed of 
petunias. In other words, such a scene was a picture, not merely a collection of 
objects. For this reason, in planning a yard, everything .that is done should 
give a positive answer to the question: Will this make the home grounds look 
better as a whole scene? No matter what the individual taste as to the home 
grounds may be, one should always keep in mind their total effect while planning 



their details. It should be remembered, also, that the house is the center of the 
picture. The lawns serve merely as a carpeted floor, or groundwork, on which 
the trees and the shrubs are so arranged as to best set off the house. Borders 
furnish the frame to the picture. They should therefore be simple and dignified, 
and will look best if composed mostly of green foliage. This proscenium of green, 
when it opens to a pleasant outlook over the fields, is also the best frame to the 
distant picture, and may likewise serve as a background to set off the beauty of 
clumps of flowering shrubs along the edge of the border itself. The outlooks 
from the house should be so planned as to avoid any confusion of interests; in 
one direction one should see only unbroken lawn and distant border; in another, 
some shrubs, showy with flowers or berries ; in another, an open view over the mead- 
ows; and perhaps, in still another, the suggestion of a garden or, what is fully as 
beautiful, a vista through the rows of an orchard. By these simple means and 
these unified effects may the yard about a farmhouse be made more livable, and 
homelike, and the country of which the yard is a part, may be more enjoyed and 
appreciated as an ideal setting for a home. 



CHAPTER VII 

A keen appreciation of the possibilities of land, irregular either in contour or in 
outline, will frequently enable one to select and to purchase at low cost lots which 
may be made into far more interesting homes than can comparatively flat lots 
which are usually considered more valuable. If one has seen interesting examples 
of houses and yards, cleverly planned to fit lots of peculiar shapes, or perhaps 
recalls hillside situations turned to interesting account, he may be more alive to 
the opportunities afforded by these unusual conditions. As a rule, lots of odd 
shapes, remnants of land in a block, land below the level of the street, or very 
high above it, or plots in any other way irregular, are thought thereby to be 
depreciated in value and difficult or more costly to develop. Consequently they 
are hard to sell, and therefore are usually less expensive. 

Ordinarily the houses and the yards on such sites are cheap and unattractive, 
or, at best, but awkward adaptations of plans to contour conditions. This may 
be due to the economy necessary in their construction or to a want of appre- 
ciation of the possibilities of artistic development which the land affords. 
As unattractive rather than clever developments are more common to these ir- 
regular lots, the opinion consequently prevails that they are undesirable. Those 
whose experience has shown them the error of this opinion may be able to take 
good advantage of their better understanding. In looking about, one may find 
lots in well-built-up and desirable localities, which have apparently been rejected 
on account of their irregularity. However, in addition to some understanding 
of the planning of small homes on flat ground, in more complicated situations 
one must still be able to adhere to the fundamental principles governing planning. 
A very close examination of the conditions existing on any lot will be necessary , in 
order to make certain that it does have some possibilities. A flat lot offers more 
alternatives for the convenient arrangement of a home. Irregularity in the out- 
line of a lot may appear to afford either too much or too little space in the places 
where it is most needed. When there is a marked difference oflevel in a plot, the 
general allotment of space becomes complicated. Planning for the areas which, 
by reason of their use, are closely related to the house and desirably of a similar 
elevation, requires a careful selection of the site for the house, and frequently, 
also, clever planning of the house itself is necessary in order to adapt it to a perhaps 
unusual situation. An amateur in landscape architecture, by reason of his in- 
terest in, and appreciation of, these picturesque examples of small homes, — most 
likely the result of broader experience and of keen observation, — may perhaps 
recognize the possibilities of a lot or of a piece of land, and, further, be correct 
in his estimate of its value. But it is not likely that he alone will be able to plan 
it to the best advantage. 

To make the best plans for small and irregular lots, considerably more skill 
and experience is required than to plan larger properties which are uncompli- 
cated by either want of sufficient space or irregular topography. Experience and 
skill, however, should enable one to use more of the topographical conditions as 
they exist and to fit a plan to them with less expensive grading and construction; 
and it should also enable him to tvun to good use and to picttu-esque effect many 

1 



conditions which in the beginning were seeming difficulties. However, in select- 
ing a lot one should be careful to distinguish between irregularities which may be 
turned to good effect, and those which in fact are difficulties. Some conditions 
will render a good plan more expensive or even impossible. 

It is natural for one viewing a piece of land, to think first of the possible site 
for the house; and this is the logical first thought. More possibilities will sug- 
gest themselves to one having some knowledge of house planning, of course, as 
his conception of house plans will be more flexible. At the same time, it is neces- 
sary to observe carefully the lay of the land about any asstimed house site, as it is 
by this means alone that uncorrectable mistakes are avoided, the least expensive 
plans realized, and the most attractive homes made possible. Irregularity, in 
outline or in surface, does in fact complicate the problem of planning ; and it neces- 
sarily follows that careful planning is thereby made still more important. A house 
is unquestionably the most important single feature; but to look its best and to 
best serve its purposes, it must be planned as a part of, and in accord with, the 
land adjoining it. The cost of the entire development, the time required for its 
completion, the greatest convenience, the best appearances, and, accordingly, 
the ultimate value of the property, all depend upon comprehensive and skillful 
planning at the start. 

Thus the selection of a site for a new house is an important step, as, whether 
or not he realizes it, one in effect plans not only the house, but also the whole 
lot, for better or for worse. By the term house site considerably more than mere 
structural possibility for building or good outlooks is implied. When houses 
are located and built with no thought of their relation to the land about them, 
what are the results? First of all, more grading will usually be necessary to fit the 
land to the house sufficiently to be even useful, and this means unnecessary ex- 
pense. Moreover, the opportunity to obtain the most convenient and interesting 
scheme is lost. What, then, are the requisites of a good site for a house? First, 
it is generally agreed that the site should be examined from the point of view of 
the structural aspects of the building, — the possibilities afforded for an attractive 
interior and for pleasant outlooks. Secondly, the house site selected should be 
examined in its relation to the land immediately adjoining and to the entire lot, 
with special consideration of the amount of space to be available on all sides and 
of the elevations in their possible relation to the floors of the house and to particular 
rooms. 

At any stage in the examination of a lot, one may take note of those parts which, 
by reason of their conformation, their relative elevation, or their trees or other 
growth, suggest interesting opportunities for the making of lawns, gardens of 
any kind, or routes for walks or drives. The position of the house is sometimes 
determined merely by its relation to exceptional topographic opportunities for 
those features which must adjoin it. In such cases, the site for the house 
itself is not at first so evident as are the situations adapted to the various out 
door features; but houses so located are admirably placed to enjoy the grounds 
.about them, and plans thus evolved are likely to be inexpensive and interesting. 
In the examination of a lot it matters but little what one sees first or last, but 
sooner or later it is essential that one find the situations possible for a house and 
for lawns, gardens, roads, and the like; and he must decide on these not as un- 
related features, but in relation to his conception of an entire plan. Further, 



•one must recognize when it is better and less expensive to sacrifice one feature, 
in order to take advantage of good opportunities for several other or more im- 
portant features. One is not likely to find lots which are capable of absolutely- 
satisfactory development. To observe irregular land and to visualize possible 
plans for it which are in the main correct and which are a sufficient basis for a 
judg ment of the land's value, is indeed difficult. Nevertheless, everyone should 
cultivate a better understanding of planning lots, especially irregular ones, for 
residences, as the advantages are obvious. 

In the study of planning flat lots, one may possibly have formed some opinion 
concerning the relation of the main indoor and outdoor features and of a reason- 
able apportionment of the area of the lot. Plans for lots irregular in outline are 
not likely to require any material change from the diagrammatic scheme for the 
main features already mentioned, and must not if the plans are to be convenient. 
The outlines of the several areas may be less regular than those in the average 
city lot, but the amount of space allotted to each feature is of greater importance 
than is its outline; and, as was the case in the simple examples, the position of 
the house is the most important factor in the allotment of space. Lots of ir- 
regular outline, or of very irregular topography, may require that the house be 
turned out of parallel with the street, in order to meet the conditions of the lot. 
If a building line must also be taken into consideration, the house plan itself may 
sometimes be sHghtly altered in order to conform in a measure to the street and 
to the angles of the outline of the lot. In very rough land, however, building 
lines are not likely to be closely adhered to, and houses located and planned pri- 
marily with respect to conditions on their own lots, look best from the street 
also. 

Then, adhering still to our concept of an arrangement essential for principal 
features, perhaps it may be further conceded that a more picturesque scheme is 
both practical and pleasing for irregular ground. A variation in levels, however, 
involves many practical difficulties, as well as charming possibilities. One must 
plan for the accessibility of an assumed house site to the public road, by a drive- 
way and walks. The area suitable for service must be accessible in both its posi- 
tion and its elevation. Pleasure grounds, as well as porches and terraces, to be 
most satisfactory, should be, at least in part, on a level very near to that of the 
main floor of the house, although by careful attention to drainage, gardens may 
be both convenient and interesting on levels slightly above, as well as a little be- 
low, that of the first floor. In their extensions, however, gardens may occupy a 
slope rising considerably above the first-floor level. In this relation to the house, 
the pleasure ground is more plainly in view from the house than if it were a down- 
ward slope. Lawns, as well as some parts of the service area, may, if necessary, 
be less accessible in respect to elevation. While unquestionably a lawn will be 
more used if the number of steps leading to it is not great, still, if the topography 
adjoining the house affords an ample area which is comparatively flat, a satis- 
factory lawn may be made, even at a considerably lower level, and still afford the 
house a pleasant outlook. The area for a garden is usually much smaller than 
that required for a lawn, and therefore it is more economical to adapt the plan 
to an area already suitable for a lawn, even if this requires considerable cutting 
or filling of the garden. Thus one must know the requirements for each feature 
in respect to conformation, size, and relative position, and the methods and costs 



of nec2ssary improvement operations, and must weigh all these factors before he 
can form even visionary plans for a lot or can reach an opinion as to its possi- 
bilities. 

The planning of irregular land may be still further complicated by the trees 
which may happen to be growing upon it. To design a house cleverly in relation 
to existing mature trees is to obtain at the start the effect of years. Trees near 
the site chosen for the house should therefore be taken into consideration by the 
designer of the house, and should be included with it in the composition of the 
picture. But as they cannot be greatly changed in form by trimming, and usu- 
ally cannot be moved, nor have the conditions about their roots materially 
altered, both patience and skill are necessary to adapt plans to them. If house 
plans or plans for the grounds are drawn without regard for existing trees, a far 
greater number than is actually necessary will have to be cut down and lost ; 
and, further, those which remain, having no studied relation to the house, the 
gardens or the other features, will neither gain from, nor contribute beauty to, 
the scheme. 

Old trees are distinctly an asset, and therefore one usually pays more for a lot 
on which there are good trees. Not to use them is of course only to waste that 
for which one has already paid. But to save a sufficient number of them to afford 
satisfactory shade is really good only if one has so drawn his plans as to achieve 
the effect of the trees having been planned for just those spots where they are 
growing; and, only thus can existing tree growth be capitalized to its fullest ex- 
tent. Of course one kind of a tree is suited for one position and another best 
fitted for other effects, and also an incidental or picturesque arrangement of 
trees is frequently better than a stiffly symmetrical arrangement. Therefore 
considerable artistic ability or appreciation is required to adapt a plan to old 
trees or to selecl and to locate young trees in distinctive positions where they 
will someday grow to produce the desired effects. 

Old shrubs, either native or cultivated, can be moved more easily and safely 
than can trees. Still, a year or more will be necessary for shrubs so moved to 
regain their original thrifty growth. Shrubs are not so easily injured by cutting 
about their roots as are trees, but this information should not lead one to treat 
them carelessly. All existing conditions should be capitalized. In fact, even 
existing structures may at times be utilized with little repair or addition. The 
cost nowadays of such accessory structures, as summerhouses, arbors, and the 
like, is so excessive that their value seldom seems to justify them. Unquestion- 
ably, however, they add greatly to the appearance and pleasurable use of the 
yard. Rocky outcrops may be used very effectively for picturesque effects, and 
of course lend themselves especially to naturalistic gardening. Occurring near 
the house, they may likewise be combined very effectively with conventional 
features. One should make a careful survey of all vegetation, topographic details, 
old foundations or structures, and the Hke, with a view to their possible use or 
adaptation. 

In planning for space on uneven ground, one should recognize fully the real 
usefulness of both level and sloping ground, as well as the appearances resulting 
from their proper and improper adaptation. Usually, the area assigned to a single 
purpose looks larger and affords more available space for practical purposes if it 
is comparatively level. For example, a lawn broken into several levels by ter- 



races, or one made on a steep slope, appears smaller than an area of the same size 
which is in one level and unbroken sweep; a turncourt on more than a slight 
grade requires a radius larger than that ordinarily used, to eHminate the danger of 
cars skidding at these places; and terraced vegetable gardens have only their level 
areas available for use. Terraces resulting from the leveHng required for lawns, 
turncourts, and the like may support the planting necessary to enclose and sep- 
arate the various features on the different levels, thus wasting no space. Pleasure 
gardens do not demand extensive levels, and therefore these may be adapted to 
almost any form of topography. 

A shghtly hollowed (concave) grade is the most pleasing one for a lawn; and 
if the area is large, gradually steepening slopes may, with excellent effect, mount 
at the borders to marked differences in level. Lawns necessarily made on slopes 
for a greater part of their area are in effect more pleasing, and appear more nearly 
level, if the lowest ground is not at their borders. To avoid this condition it is 
even better to steepen a part of the slope, in order to obtain a little fiat ground, 
and perhaps even a slight rise, before the borders are reached. For very conven- 
tional effects, lawns should be quite fiat; but if picturesque effects are desired, 
a varied but generally concave lawn surface is preferable. The outstanding feat- 
ures of a lawn are its extent and the unbroken sweep of its surface. Hence it is 
plain to be seen that the part of the lot selected for this purpose should have 
suitable topography. 

Gardens also appear larger if all on the same level. But gardens for small 
homes do not, as a rule, need to appear extensive in order to look well. And 
however broken the garden surface may be, even it if consists of a series of steep 
terraces, as long as the dimensions of its details are not unreasonably small, the 
scale will not be petty and the terraced garden will be pleasing. As a rule, gardens 
need diversity, both in level and in plan ; and distinct differences in levels afford 
opportunity for such decorative details as steps and walls in addition to the usual 
garden features, which, in turn, seen from different elevations multiply the pleas- 
ing aspects of the garden. Of course, the character of the garden area immediately 
adjoining the house needs to be more roomhke in order to be a proper adjunct 
to the living room. Beyond this area immediately adjoining the house, however, 
the gardens may consist of naturahstic or conventional eflfects on rising or falling 
grades, preferably taking advantage of existing conditions; but they must be 
congruous parts of the whole. On rough and irregular terrain, unavoidable 
remnants of ground may almost always be adapted to some interesting architec- 
tural or gardenlike feature. 

One is less apt to realize or to concern himself with the requirements or the 
opportunities in the more distant parts of the yard than he is with the practical 
aspects of entrance facilities and with the appearance of his house from the street. 
Many persons balk at the suggestion of locating a house on a level which is con- 
siderably higher or much lower than that of the street. As was stated in chapters 
II and III, the function of the front yard is that of furnishing an appropriate 
foreground to the house, together with entrance facihties. Nevertheless, unusual 
or difficult conditions are not in themselves a sufficient reason for not making 
practical and interesting entrance drives and arranging for the satisfactory ap- 
pearance of the house from the street. Similar topographic conditions will usu- 
ally prevail along a street and even throughout a neighborhood. Occurring thus, 



6 

or even on a single lot, such conditions are a visible reason for an unusual plan, 
and if plans employ clever rather than awkward methods and details, the effects 
may be indeed pleasing. For this statement there is ample proof in well-done 
examples. Drives may have to resort to profiles which do not conform to the 
grades of the lawn; they may have to cross the lawn, or even to receive other 
treatment than that ordinarly used, and, in fact, quite contrary to the prin- 
ciples previously set forth. But the houses and the drives will both look well 
and be practical, if the conditions of any particular situation are cleverly met 
and if the result is apparently intentional rather than haphazard. 

The entrance problem is a very important one, and in the examination of a lot, 
if there are apparent reasons for doubting the possibility of a satisfactory entrance, 
this question should be decided before any further consideration is given to the 
lot. A close observation of the conditions^may be sufficient, or some information 
as to the actual elevations may be necessary. At least one should visualize a plan 
for drives and be reasonably certain of its practicability, before he seriously con- 
siders purchasing the property. It is possible to make foot approaches of a satis- 
factory nature over topographic conditions that will by no means permit a good 
road, and therefore less thought need be given to this matter. In order to obviate 
the necessity for a drive, garages may sometimes be recessed in a bank rising steep- 
ly from the street, and though opening directly on the sidewalk, may be made 
not unattractive by means of heavy planting about them. Still, garages so lo- 
cated may as well be on a nearby lot, as far as the convenience to the owner is 
concerned, since a long, steep foot approach is usually the only connection with 
the house, and this is both undesirable for a main entrance and expensive for ser- 
vice. Under some conditions, however, it may be possible to locate the house 
directly on the street line and to make the garage merely a part of its basement. 
This arrangement would, of course, permit of a stairway connecting the garage 
directly with the main portion of the house. However it would be an exceptional 
condition indeed that would justify such a scheme, and other plans are more likely 
to be preferable. 

Drives may be made to enter at one side of a front yard, to turn and climb the 
slope across the width of the lawn, and to turn again when the other side is reached, 
thence passing in the usual manner between the house and the side property line 
to the garage. In such cases, the drive should cross the lawn at a level sufficiently 
below the house to be practically out of sight therefrom. The steeply sloping 
ground may be attractively planted, and if desirable the drive may be thus quite 
hidden from either the house or the street. Heavy planting on the steep grade 
may in appearance serve to give the house more support ; and if much of the front 
area is covered with suitable varieties of woody plants, the abruptness of the 
grade may thus be made less evident. Drives may enter lots considerably below the 
street by a reversal of these devices. When this is done, it is best to have the slope 
nearest the sidewalk the steepest and to make for all possible width in level directly 
in front of the house. Sometimes it may seem best to approach a house high above 
the street by means of a deep cut, the retaining walls or the abrupt slopes on either 
side serving, with the aid of heavy planting, to render it less noticeable. A main 
drive of this kind may be made to afford a very private and enclosed entrance, 
and if used as a service drive, it may be almost completely hidden. Of course, 
in sections where heavy snows are prevalent, such a drive may not always be 



serviceable in winter. It is not possible to describe methods suitable for all situ- 
ations, however, as the limiting circumstances in each case may necessarily make 
the exception the rule. 

Foot approaches may be adapted to almost any situation, and to be practical, 
interesting, and even decorative, require only some ingenuity for their design. 
Steps, walls, and possibly the use of suitable planting, may make these entrance 
walks more expensive than those for comparatively level front yards, but other 
economic advantages of the irregular over the level lot may justify this labor and 
expense. As a rule, walks should preferably follow the line of the drive. If the 
drive is well-made and smoothly paved, it may serve both as a drive and as a 
walk. If the front space is clear and open, and if there are no obstructions to 
any plan for the walks, these are usually best made to start from the street at 
one or both corners of the lot and to approach the house on a curving line of 
which the steeper part is near the street, thus permitting a more gradual ap- 
proach near the house. This suggestion i.~ in accordance with the general prin- 
ciple of having a reasonable amount of comparatively level ground immediately 
surrounding the house, whatever may be its elevation with respect to the street. 
There are few situations indeed which will not permit a satisfactory setting for 
the house far below the public road if the slope does not crowd too closely toward 
the front of the building, and this, too, quite regardless of the necessity for walls or 
for steep slopes adjoining the sidewalk. 

While it is hardly safe to attempt generalizations for examples of so variable 
a nature, it is thought that low-lying land is more easily made into interesting 
yards than is very high ground, providing of course, that good drainage is possible. 
However, a high situation is usually a commanding one, and may afford more out- 
look than does the low-lying property. In a city, however, distant outlooks are 
not always interesting and may even be unsightly. If one's yard is higher than 
the adjoining lots its enclosure is difficult, as th^ ground at the borders is likely 
to be lower than that about the house; and this necessitates the planting of larger 
trees and shrubs at the start or a long wait for them to grow before they can be 
very effective. High situations, again, are usually exposed and dry, and therefore 
difficult ones in which to grow any but the most hardy plants. More enclosure 
is therefore necessary for success with the average assortment of plants, and also 
more soil preparation is required. Furthermore, without the appearance of suffi- 
cient protection, it is impossible to achieve an attractive and homelike atmosphere 
of privacy. Still, there are advantages and disadvantages to be considered in all 
situations, resulting from their relatively high or low elevations, and at the start, 
when one is choosing a site, is the time to weigh these as well as other possibilities. 

Whatever plan may be conceived for an irregular lot, practical convenience 
must be served ; and the essential function of each feature must be borne in mind 
when it is assigned to any particular topographical conformation. The contour 
of any part of the land should be suitable for any feature intended for it, and the 
position of that feature on the lot and in the plan should be determined chiefly 
by its use. The relative levels of various features should not interfere with their 
use, but should rather contribute to their attractiveness. Speaking more in 
detail, trees and minor irregularities of the land should suggest the detailed de- 
sign for each feature. If a lot consists of several comparatively level areas 
separated by steeply sloping ground, so far as possible the more important or 



8 

larger elements should be placed in these level areas, while the slopes between 
them are accepted as the natural lines of subdivision within the lot, possibly to be 
planted. From this it is evident that the straight lines usually demarking the 
subdivision of areas on flat lots are not always suitable to uneven ground. Straight 
lines and regularly shaped areas are unquestionably more economical of space. 
But in so far as the requirements of the several features permit, it is more import- 
ant to economize in grading, and to so bend one's conception of the essential ar- 
rangement for the main elements, that it may fit gracefully with the less conven- 
tional conditions. 

Principles and conventions are good things when intelligently applied, and flexi- 
bility of opinion is apt to be an indication of greater understanding. In order to 
develop a point of view for the planning of land of marked irregularity, one must 
start with a clear conception of the fundamental requirements for a residence 
property, as exemplified in the simplest form on small flat lots of regular outline. 
The functions of each element, together with its relation to the other elements, 
must be thoroughly understood. Persistent observation and analysis of examples, 
wherever they are to be found, will broaden one's conception of these essential 
features. It is easy to criticise, and criticism not too hasty will sometimes dis- 
close mistakes and perhaps suggest better details. The study of many examples 
and the gathering of a vocabulary of details may develop one'sability to visualize 
plans. However, rigidity of opinion in one's own conception of a plan for a home, 
or a similar tenacity in respect to the plans advocated for flat, rectangular lots 
in the foregoing chapters, is indicative of little understanding of fundamental 
principles and of a narrow experience. One must construct a background of 
understanding before he can trust himself to be flexible in his opinions, and he 
must have ideas before he can visualize plans. 

There are some details concerning the shaping of surfaces and the resulting 
effects which apply generally tQ all conditions, and these will be briefly explained 
at this time in order that they may perhaps further clarify the foregoing explana- 
tions of this chapter. Usually a house is built on an elevation, or with respect 
to an elevation, called the ground line, which is a level slightly above that of the 
sidewalk in front of the house. This arrangement looks well partly because it is 
customary and partly because it is practical for drainage and affords the house a- 
good setting from the point of view of the street. Hence this customary relation 
of the front with respect to other elevations must be the starting point for any 
proposed exceptions. 

When houses stand slightly higher or lower than is desirable, suitable compen- 
sation may be made by skillful grading of the front area. This area may be 
excavated to make for a slight degree of concavity whose lowest part will be 
from two-thirds to three-quarters of the distance from the sidewalk to the house, 
thus resulting in a decidedly steeper slope immediately approaching the house 
than near the street. By this device the house can be made to appear, from the 
street, about as high above it as it is above the low part of the lawn. Hence 
it may be assumed that if, in the profile between a point of view and a terminal, 
the gradient breaks at a point nearer the terminal and from thence rises at a 
steeper gradient, the resulting effect will be that the terminal appears higher than 
it actually is. The longer segment may slope downward, may be level, or may 
slope upward, but as long as the shorter segment is noticeably steeper, the effect 



remains the same, diflfering only in degree according to the circumstances. If 
this scheme of concave grading is apphed to a front lawn, thelawn should conform 
to the same profile for a width greater than that of the house, if not of the entire 
lawn; but as the borders are reached, the grades may be gradually merged into 
the conditions on adjoining lots. Perhaps it is safe to say, by way of a specific 
example, that a house standing forty feet distant from a street and on a level 
with the sidewalk, may be made to appear somewhat above the sidewalk level if, 
for a distance of twenty-five feet, the grade slopes downward not more than 
six to eight inches, is comparatively flat for about five feet, and then rises 
evenly to the original level of the house front. With a greater distance, of course, 
these proportions may be exaggerated to produce the same effect. The slope 
downward cannot be noticeable, however, without disclosing the deception, at 
least to a degree. 

When the house stands considerably below the level of the street, a concave 
profile is usually desirable. This conformation makes for more spaciousness in 
front of the building, and also affords it good drainage, as well as a slightly ele- 
vated platform on which to stand. Under these circumstances the house is sure 
to appear at a higher elevation than it actually is. Further, if the situation calls 
for conventionality, this effect may be increased by the construction of a formal 
terrace at the low point, thus making a still steeper slope to contrast with that of 
the gradual segment. By this scheme, the ground between the top of the terrace 
and the face of the house can be apparently level. In all cases the ground should 
slope away from the house sufficiently to insure satisfactory drainage. Walls 
and steps substituted for formal terraces about houses produce similar effects 
with respect to elevations. Furthermore, it should be pointed out that the ter- 
minals of a concave profile are not only in effect raised, but also appear to recede. 
Thus a house with its front lawn graded in this particular form of concavity will 
appear not only higher than it is, but also farther back from the street. Looking 
from the house toward the street, if the concavity is but slight, there will be no 
noticeable difference; but in case of marked differences in level, there will be 
some foreshortening. 

While a concave lawn is pleasing in itself, quite irrespective of the effects it 
produces, for a house already sufficiently high above the street an even slope 
from the sidewalk to the house, becoming slightly more level as it approaches 
thereto, should be adopted. The slope from the sidewalk to the house should, 
in most cases, be from 2>^ to 3 percent, and in the case of slopes which are one 
or two feet in excess of this, a filHng of the lawn to produce a convex profile with 
the major part of its slope at the front line will restore the normal appearance. 
A convex profile generally tends to lower the terminal, and the greater part of the 
steepness resulting must usually be nearest the point of view, thus in some cases 
requiring steps. This modeling is not a very pleasing one, however, although very 
common. Further, it tends to foreshorten in a reverse direction from that of 
concave profiles. Houses standing at an elevation very high above the street, 
however, have no alternative but to adopt this form of grading. Excessively steep 
embankments may sometimes be planted in a manner to soften the effect and even 
to make the abruptness less noticeable. Usually medium and low-growing shrubs 
are combined with species of vines, which all grow together and form an unbroken 



10 

and undulating contour. For special efifects, of course, other combinations are 
necessary. 

Lawns to the rear or at the side of a house usually look best in a modeling which 
is generally concave. This contour, in contrast to convex modeling, tends to 
increase the apparent size of these areas. The motif of a lawn is an open center 
with solid boundaries, and its spaciousness may be accentuated by means of a 
concave modeling. Applying the principles of concave modeling just explained, 
if the low part of a lawn is made nearer to the far boundaries than to the house, 
the effect of apparently greater depth is produced. The rear lawns adjoining 
small city or suburban houses may be given a slight degree of concavity by little 
or no actual hollowing of the grades, but rather by filling to raise the borders 
about a foot or perhaps slightly less. Even this slight degree of concavity is 
effective and pleasing. 

There are other details pertaining to grading which contribute greatly toward 
practical construction and toward finished appearances. Grass slopes or terraces, 
if not conventional, should, in most cases, have what is called an "O G profile," 
— that is, a reverse curve; and the radius of curvature at the top should be less, 
while that at the base of the slope should be greater. This curvature affords 
stability and is by far the best detail for what is commonly known as an 
"informal slope.' The per cent of slope should preferably not average nore than 
one foot of rise to two feet of width. When steps are built into a terrace, the 
slanting surface of the terrace should conform to the ratio of the step s. Steeper 
embankments are of course necessary at times, and usually these are densely 
planted with vegetation that will prevent washing. Formal terraces should 
comply with the suggestions just mentioned as appropriate to the percentage 
of slope. Grass ramps used in place of steps to connect different levels are usually 
made as a formal terrace, but in a ratio of one foot of rise to eight feet of width. 
This feature serves to draw more closely together the levels so connected, and pos- 
sesses the advantage of greater simplicity. Ramps may be either conventionalized 
or treated in an informal way. 

Walls can be used between different levels, and while the expense of construct- 
ing them is greater than for terracing, they occupy less space. In many instances 
"dry masonry" may be employed in the walls. This is less expensive than solid 
masonry laid in cement, and requires less foundationing. Dry walls, to be stable, 
must usually be laid to considerable "batter," and cannot be as narrow as are 
walls of cemented masonry. The character of each type of wall is quite different, 
and one should not determine on one oranotherfromaconsiderationof cost alone. 
If walls are employed, very likely steps v/ill also be needed, and this question should 
be studied carefully. In the first place, one should realize that the ratios satis- 
factory for indoor stairs will not prove equally good about the garden, in the en- 
trance walk, or even at the porches and the doorways. The conditions affecting 
steps out-of-doors are entirely different from those inside the house. Most out- 
of-doors steps have a decorative value as well as a practical one; they usually occur 
in short rather than long flights, and they are wider, and rarely is there a ramp 
or a hand rail within reach for support. As a rule a good ratio for out-of-door .steps 
is six inches rise to fourteen inches tread, with perhaps a quarter of an inch "wash" 
allowed on each tread. If one wishes to express a very close relation between two 
levels in a garden or between terraces and gardens, the same rise may be used 



11 

with a tread an inch or two wider, but if the rise is made an inch less, then three 
or four inches should be added to the tread. Very easy ratios are best adapted 
to short flights of perhaps only three steps. Of course if longer flights are neces- 
sary, these may be effectively interrupted by landings, thus permitting the use of 
the easy ratios with the assurance of satisfactory results. In addition to practical 
considerations, both steps and walls should receive some thought concerning their 
decorative aspect. Little or no additional cost will be necessary in order to make 
these details somewhat decorative and suitable for homes not of an unduly ex- 
pensive or elaborate nature, and the necessity of this decorative requirement is 
most plainly realized when it is wanting. It should be noted that walls and steps 
mark differences in level more noticeably than do turf slopes, and these details 
should be chosen according to the effect desired. The designing of suitable 
architectural details requires experience and taste, together with a realization of 
their importance. 

The drainage problems incidental to irregular lots are very important, although 
usually they may be satisfactorily handled in a simple way and by means which 
are both inexpensive and self-maintaining. As the grades are determined in the 
vicinity of the house, the surfaces should be so moulded as to carry rain water 
away from the base of a building, and if natural drainage does not produce this 
result, catchbasins or other artificial means will be necessary. Usually, by the 
introduction of imperceptible slopes in conventional features, and by slight de- 
pressions along the edges of lawns and outlying areas, the water may be led away 
into the plantations or into depressions where it will gradually seep out of sight 
and follow the underground course of what was originally its natural drainage. 
If the surface of each area can be drained separately, no great volume of water 
will collect at any one point, and thus there will be no resultant erosion nor any 
need of catchbasins and drains. Low-lying areas that are likely to receive the 
surface flow from adjoining properties should be carefully examined to ascertain 
whether there will be any danger at flood times, and also whether there is ample 
drainage by some means of which the rights are protected. A lot with very porous 
subsoil can have dry wells located at several low points, and thus providing a good 
drain which requires no future attention and is very inexpensive to construct. 
In soils which incline to imperviousness, these wells should either be made very 
large, or else not used at all. If the drainage question cannot be easily solved, 
one should realize that his best economy is the purchase of some expert advice. 

The reader may not find this discussion of details especially interesting, since 
it is more than possible that he has not observed these things with an eye sufficient- 
ly professional to appreciate their purpose. Djscussions of this nature are little 
more than meaningless if they do not recall actual examples, and for a certainty 
they are abstract without illustration. The purpose of this chapter is not to 
teach the reader how to design and to carry out plans for irregular lots, but is rather 
intended to convince him of their possibilities for development and to stimulate 
his interest and his observation. Ordinarily all these questions are left to the build- 
er, whose point of view is usually that the best site for a house is that which it is 
easiest and cheapest to build, — necessitating the least excavation for the cellar and 
the least trouble in making foundations. He gives no thought to questions of 
appearances beyond the walls of the building. When he has finished, however, 
the owner alone is left to face the problems, and also the bills, for his mistakes. 



12 

This is but a "penny wise and pound foolish poHcy." The wisdom of engaging 
the advice of a professional man, when an investment is contemplated that in- 
volves from ten to twenty thousand dollars — which most new homes now cost — 
might seem evident. But it will be many years before this will become the 
custom. Therefore, if new homes are to be an improvement on old ones, the point 
of view of the public must become more intelligent with respect to landscape 
planning. It is said that "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing." But however 
that statement may apply, all will agreee that the public might well know a little 
more about landscape planning than is commonly the case today, in order that 
advantage might accrue both to the people themselves and to the appearance of 
the suburbs. 



PART II 

CHAPTER VII 
CLASSIFICATION OF PLANTS 

The woody plants (the trees, the shrubs, and the vines), the herbaceous flower- 
ing plants and ground covers, and even the grass are all essential elements in the 
structure and the scenery of the yard. However, a discriminating selection and 
an intelligent arrangement of plant material is necessary in order to produce the 
essential structure and the fitting scenery. In building a house, one buys the assort- 
ment of material required for a given plan; and in order to produce the house it is 
• necessary, first, to have a plan, next, to know the kinds and quantities of material 
needed, and, lastly, to know how to assemble them. Most of the material loses its 
identity in the assemblage, but this result is intentional and requisite for any degree 
of success in the making of a house. In the yard the situation is precisely the same, 
and in order to make useful and attractive yards it is equally necessary to plan 
first, then to determine what is required for the plan, and, finally, to assemble the 
material properly. 

Many persons start wrong by first making a selection of their favorite plants. 
Then they may endeavor to arrange and to so combine these as to make an attrac- 
tive and useful yard; but they encounter many misfits, and their success is 
limited. In most instances, these favorite plants are merely scattered about, with 
thought only for their thrifty growth and for the enjoyment of them as individuals. 
Nevertheless, one's interest in either plants or buildings does not justify the 
sacrifice of other essential features. Neither houses, nor gardens, nor architectural 
details, nor plants, nor, in fact, any part of a residence property is more important 
than the plan for the whole. The raison d'etre of every element and feature lies 
only in its contribution to the effect of the entire plan. However, careful planning 
at the start does not necessarily mean the sacrifice of one's special interests; 
rather, it affords an opportunity for the best development of each of the elements. 
Further, the beauty of the whole is then the sum of the beauty of all the parts. 
Decorative plants, as well as decoration within the house, to appear at their best, 
must be coordinated with their environment. 

In the foregoing chapters much has been said about planning, but now this 
question arises: when and how does the planning for plants come in? In the very 
beginning, emphasis was placed upon comprehensive planning as the only means 
whereby a judicious allotment of space and a reasonable arrangement are possible. 
The plan formulated at this stage, however, can be merely a generalization. The 
approximate position for the house, and perhaps its outline, are therein determined; 
but further study suggests changes, and only after consideration can the exact 
dimensions of the house be finally decided. A like study of the yard and of its 
several parts suggests slight changes, perhaps also including some slight alteration 
in the position of the house or even of details of its plan or of its elevations. Thus, 
through processes of planning that become more and more detailed, it is ulti- 
mately possible to develop an exact plan for the entire lot. When this much 
has been accomplished, the house may be planned in detail, and even built; and 
detailed plans for the yard may likewise be made, of which planting plans are 
a part. 

3 



In building a house, one would not think of buying a heterogeneous lot of 
building material just because he liked it; rather would he carefully buy the 
material called for in some predetermined plan. Furthermore, by far the greatest 
part of such material must go into the walls, the floors, and the body of the 
structure. The decorative features of the house are in a very small proportion 
to the rest of the house, and are determined as to their position and character 
in the course of the general planning. Therefore they are essentially a part of the 
prearranged plan. But it is ridiculous to attempt to plan the decorative details 
before the structure to which they must be related is designed, as they are the 
last part of the house to be planned in detail and built. The application of this 
principle to the yard is quite as necessary as is its application to the house. The 
border plantations, the hedges or the plantations between the several areas, the 
trees or the shrubs which frame the house front, and the turf which carpets most 
of the ground, collectively, make up the structure of the yard. While the plan for 
the yard is being formulated, gateways, arbors, pools, fountains, seats, and even 
picturesque groups or special color effects of plants, may suggest themselves or 
appear necessary in one place or another. In fact, their effectiveness or useful- 
ness in particular positions may even suggest their exact details; but these con- 
stitute so small a proportion of the material or of the area of the yard, that they 
should be the last steps in the planning or the making of the yard. The structure 
of the yard must first exist before it can possibly be decorated, and general plans 
must first be formulated before one can have the point of view essential for the 
consideration of details or of decoration. Thus, planting plans must primarily 
concern the enclosing plantations, the hedges, the mass planting, and even the 
arrangement of the lawn area. The importance of the structural planting lies 
not only in its conversion of a portion of unlimited area into the limited area of 
a yard and its specific areas, providing privacy and protection, but also in its 
effective massing of the vegetation, which is essential to the beauty of the yard 
and as an effective background for the house, the decorative structures, and even 
the decorative plants. 

The open lawn is the foreground of the house front; the flanking trees or shrubs 
grouped about it furnish its frame; and the plants at the door accentuate its 
entrance without attracting attention to themselves. If the green of the trees is 
of a tone that harmonizes with the green of the grass and of the shrubbery, then 
the planting in the front yard, collectively, serves as a frame and a foreground to 
the house front, the plants at the door perhaps being slightly more noticeable. 
Essential as all this planting is, however, it is unquestionably subservient to the 
house. In comparatively small yards, large shade trees make for a better appear- 
ance if they are of a common species, such as elm, maple, the spreading type of 
oak or the like, because they are unobtrusive. Trim hedges of uniform density and 
perfection of surface set off most effectively the beautiful form or color of the 
flowers or fruits of nearby decorative plants. A perfect lawn is likewise essential 
to the display of an occasional fine specimen tree or shrub that, while not planted 
in the center of the lawn, may still be somewhat detached from, the boundary 
plantations. The use of the grass of the lawns, yards, and gardens corresponds 
closely to that of the plain floor coverings inside the house; and the less patchy 
and the more evenly fine its texture, the more satisfactory the background it 
furnishes for those things disposed upon it. 



Border plantations need not be entirely composed of non-flowering plants in 
order to serve as backgrounds, but flowering plants selected for this function 
should qualify as to suitable foliage when there are no flowers. And while it is 
natural for one to see first the beauty in the flower color, he should endeavor to 
turn his attention to -the question of the beauty of the greens of the foliage. If 
one cannot easily divorce himself from his all-absorbing interest in flower color, 
he should realize that, except for a short time in early summer, there are practical- 
ly no flowers. If the flowers were with us all year round, we might not be so inter- 
ested in them. The spring is a season of flower, the summer, a time of greens, 
while in the fall, color is presented to us in still a different aspect; and therefore 
it is surely expedient, if nothing more, to make the most of each season. But 
while we enioy the evergreens when winter takes all other color from us, we should 
prize them more than we do, considering their all-year-round value, and their 
usefulness as backgrounds for color, and their intrinsic beauty. 

If one wishes to know how to assemble plants to produce effects in accordance 
with a prearranged plan, he must observe all their important characteristics and 
become well-informed respecting them. For example, there are many kinds of 
trees, and in height alone they will vary from twenty or twenty-five to fifty 
feet or more. Some trees, under all ordinary conditions, assume their character- 
istic form, rounded or pointed; and according to the density and compactness 
of their manner of growth, this characteristic form or outline will be more or 
less sharply defined. Other trees will vary markedly under conditions of soil, 
moisture, and crowded or exposed environment. The same may also be said of 
shrubs. Evergreen trees and shrubs are more conspicuous than deciduous forms 
if the latter predominate in a scene or a landscape. Unusual characteristics make 
all plant forms conspicuous, and they are even more so if in contrast with nearby 
plants. Size, habit, color value, texture, and like characteristics are the factors 
which should determine the choice of plants which are intended to produce the 
effects embodied in a general plan. 

To be suitable, the general appearance of the several areas of the yard should 
be different, and to a considerable degree this must be effected by the selection 
and arrangement of the vegetation. Even within the lawn itself it is desirable to 
avoid a monotonous border. Focalization of interest by means of architectural 
features or suitable plants is desirable at certain points in the border, usually 
those farthest from the house but plainly in view. Focalization of interest by 
the use of plants whose characteristics give them individuality also requires the 
use of other plants about them to constitute a suitable background. These 
background plants should not stand out as individuals, by reason of interesting, 
curious, or even unpleasant characteristics; rather, they should lose their identity 
in order to produce a mass effect of unobtrusive but pleasing foliage. Thus it 
should be evident that a planting plan for a yard requires both plants that are 
individually prominent and plants that are suitable for collective or mass effects. 

Some analysis of the plant element of the yard and an arbitrary classification of 
plants producing different effects will perhaps clarify this matter and simplify 
the process of selection. Let us therefore group all the vegetation to be used into 
two classes, one including plants which are primarily useful for background 
effects, — which, growing together, tend to merge into a mass and produce an 
effect of green foliage varied only slightly in form, tone, and skyline, or silhouette, 



— and the other including plants which are distinctive as individuals and perhaps 
are decorative or showy. In short, the first class may be called plants of indefinite 
form and habit, or plants for background purposes; and the second, plants of 
definite form and habit, or plants for accent or focalization purposes. 

What is meant by plants of "indefinite form or habit"? -As one walks through 
a woodland or thicket, his impression. is not that of walking between maple or 
oak or hemlock trees and viburnum, witch hazel, or other bushes and other specif- 
ic kinds of plants, but just that of woods or coppice. Whatever the particular 
type of woodland, the impression is a general one; and individual plants composing 
the woodland are either not noticed at all, or, at most, are not sufficiently promi- 
nent to create more than a general, or collective, impression. Even a student of 
natural science, who is acquainted with most of the plants, has a conception of 
the plants collectively rather than individually. In most situations where the 
vegetation is native and spontaneous, one's impression of it is apt to be that of 
scenery of one kind or another where few if any plants are prominent to any 
great degree. Where woods or thickets verge upon a clearing or a field, the foliage 
becomes more dense, but the several kinds of trees or shrubs cannot be differen- 
tiated except by close examination, and from a distance their collective effect 
is merely that of woodland border. 

The greater part of our native vegetation is of this indefinite character, the 
separate plants merging into those about them and displaying no sharp lines 
nor conspicuous variety. In the spring there is more color, but all the color is 
harmonious, and produces collective effects similar to those characteristic of the 
summer. In the fall, likewise, although there may be brilliant color in spots, 
all the color is brilliant and the greater contrasts are common. At all seasons 
there is usually a predominance of the more sombre colors, and the occasional 
brilliant color of flowers, or berries, or even of whole trees in autumnal red, is 
thus furnished with an ample and a harmonious background. 

It is not alone some definite object of interest which makes most views attrac- 
tive, but it is the setting afforded this object, — :the boundless tracts of woods, the 
fields, and the mass effect of the infinite number of insignificant plants. Without 
these insignificant plants we could not have our fine scenery. There is variety in 
our scenery, but it is a subtle variety. It is this contrast with an infinitely greater 
proportion of indefinite foliage that makes possible our enjoyment of the excep- 
tion, — the individually interesting or beautiful plants. 

What are the characteristics of the individual tree or shrub which, in the mass, 
make for indefiniteness? When one enters a partial clearing in the woods, where 
the few remaining trees stand like tall spectres, with few and scattered branches 
and no regularity of growth, or at least of insufficient density to give the appearance 
of regularity, he may see good examples of woodland trees. The branches have 
had to reach for light, and the trees have become irregular in habit, even if of 
species which, in the open field, would normally tend to develop into symmetrical 
trees. In the woods the branches interlace, and from a distance, at least, the 
green of their leaves being similar, there appear no hard and fast lines of foliage 
demarkation. Some trees, whether in the thicket or in the open, persist in very 
irregular habits and assume no general symmetry or form. Instead, they spread 
loosely, seemingly with but one determination, — that of becoming angular and 
irregular. Many other trees that, from necessity and crowding grow irregularly 



in the woods, assume in the open a decidedly dense habit of growth and con- 
siderable symmetry of form. However, loosely spreading branches tend to dis- 
tribute the foliage unevenly, creating masses in one place and leaving voids in 
another; and this manner of branching results in foliage of varying density, and 
makes for high lights where light is reflected and for variable shadows where 
there are recesses. Further, the generally rounded outlines characteristic of 
many native plants, and which are in themselves less noticeable than pointed 
outlines, become less evident if the habit of the plant is spreading and free rather 
than dense and compact. 

The leaves of most native plants do not differ greatly in size or in tone of green, 
and for this reason, in a mixture of them, the individuals are not clearly discern- 
ible. The spreading habits of the plants also cause their branches to interweave, 
and this results in further blending. However, the slight variation in texture 
and in tone makes for a play of light and shade, thereby preventing monotony 
and contributing to the indefinite character of the mass. Thus, vagueness of 
outline, generally rounded but interrupted, and stu-faces of similar texture and 
tone but inconspicuously varied, — in other words, surfaces which are receptive 
and indefinite rather than hard and repellant, are the characteristics and the 
effects of vegetation of this class. We greatly admire and prize these plants in 
our country scenery, and their importance generally, as well as their usefulness for 
the scenery of our yards, should be evident. 

In yards, the planting should unquestionably be more horticultural and arti- 
ficial than in country scenery; and yet the beauty and the appeal of any scene 
which consists entirely of very subtle variety rather than of strong contrasts 
should teach us a lesson in principle which is applicable to small or large yards, 
to parks, and, in fact, to all plant design. The individual trees, outstanding from the 
woodland edges and assuming fine proportions, are of the same species that make 
up the mass of their background; but in their more perfect development Hes the 
secret of the contrast between the individuals and their background. Most per- 
sons would do well to cultivate an appreciation of this subtle beauty contrast. 
Contrast and variety of characteristics in plants are useful, but these principles 
must be so ordered as to produce the desired scenes. In brief, the plant which 
lends itself readily to combination is essential, while the showj^ plant is good if 
well used but is not absolutely necessary. 

"What, then, are the characteristics in plants which make for contrary effects, 
such as definition, accent, or contrast, and therefore render them suitable for 
purposes of focaUzation? To begin with, if one can closely observe conditions 
about him, or even sketches of scenery, he will realize that the lines prevailing 
in country scenery, and also in cities, are horizontal lines. IVIost trees and shrubs 
grow into forms of which the tops are broadly rounded, and masses of this vege- 
tation produce the effect of an undulating, but generally horizontal, line. If to 
this the similar lines of the topography itself are added, the prevalence of horizon- 
tal lines becomes very evident. In very hilly or even mountainous sections, the 
effects are similar if seen from a distance. In built-up sections of cities, the 
horizontal lines of streets, fences, and ground lines, are longer than are the vertical 
lines of buildings. With this predominance of horizontality, any expression of 
verticalness becomes very evident by reason of the contrast. 



8 

Plant forms which express vertical lines tend to produce the strongest accent, 
though the exact degree of accent depends upon other characteristics which 
render more or less definite the vertical lines of the plant. For example, the well- 
known Lombardy poplar expresses vertical lines in its general outline, and also, 
as every twig and branch of the tree conforms to the same lines, the total effect 
of the tree is markedly vertical. The foliage of the poplar, however, is somewhat 
coarse and not very dense, and therefore the mass of the tree is not as effective 
as it would be if its foliage were very fine and dense as well as very dark green, 
similar to some of the evergreen trees. While the Itahan cypress is not sufficiently 
hardy to grow in the north of this country, it is an interesting example of a tree 
expressing, perhaps, the strongest accent. This cypress is very narrow in propor- 
tion to its height, is very dense, and is very sharply pointed at the top; 'and its fine 
texture, density, and dark green foliage, all taken together, give it a very definite 
outline. In short, its every detail or characteristic unites to produce a strong accent 
and a sharp contrast with other vegetation. The well-known red cedar is perhaps 
more like the Italian cypress than any other tree native to this country, but 
the habit of the cedar is variable, and its foliage is less dense, although equally 
dark in value of green. Also, the red cedar is a smaller tree than either the 
cypress or the Lombardy poplar. A very slender cedar would probably make a 
stronger accent than a Lombardy poplar of the same size, because of the mass 
effect of the cedar and because of its relatively darker value; but at maturity, 
the considerably greater size of the poplar would unquestionably give it the 
greater prominence. Vertical lines in' the foliage for a certainty make for a very 
strong accent; but size, mass effect, and value of green, are all important contribut- 
ing factors. 

Vertical lines are more unusual both in plant habits and in scenery, but dis- 
tinctly horizontal branching is likewise uncommon and also creates a sharp con- 
trast with the variable branching habit common to most plants. This horizontal 
branching, characteristic of some field thornes, pines, and a few other trees and 
shrubs, is not so apt to occur when the plant is young and is making rapid upward 
growth, as when it is older. If the growth habit of a plant is open like that of an 
old white pine, so that the branches and the lines thereb}'^ expressed are evident, 
the accent produced is very distinct. Also, a similar degree of horizontality is 
expressed if the growth habit of a plant is dense and if the resulting effect is 
primarily that of a flatly rounded outline. Under these circumstances, as well as 
in some others, evergreen foliage, fine texture, and dark foliage value contribute 
to the degree of accent. An interesting example of this is another Italian tree, 
the stone pine. As a j^oung tree it is much like other pines, but when its rapid 
growth is accomplished, a flatly rounded and dense head of dark green foliage is 
formed, and, to make the tree still more striking in appearance, the lower branches 
fall, leaving this top raised high upon a tall, straight trunk. 

Contrasts resulting from colors other than green, due to flowers, fruit, or un- 
usual foliage, are dependent partly upon the color itself and partly upon the 
colors or values of color of the foliage immediately adjacent. It is generally 
inadvisable to resort to the use of much strong color, for reasons already mentioned. 
Strong contrasts are not necessary for pleasing effects, and to manipulate these 
contrasts successfully requires skill and experience. Dominant colors, such as 
all shades of red, and yellows except in the light shades, result in foreshortening. 



Of course, the brilliant color of fruit scattered through foHage does not have the 
same intensity of effect as does an entire tree or shrub of red, purple, or yellow 
foliage, or even as does a profusion of flowers of similar colors. Generally speaking, 
slight contrasts make for broader effects, and thus tend to enlarge the apparent 
size of an area, but strong color in any considerable quantity is apt to produce the 
contrary effect. Light colors, — ^the delicate shades of pink, yellow, and, of course 
white, and light or dark blue, — all these may safely be used in gardens or borders, 
if in keeping with a well-conceived general plan. A plentiful proportion of dark 
green foliage about colors will always improve the quality of the latter, and also 
will accentuate the effect of it. However, these remarks in regard to the use of 
color are intended merely to suggest a guarded use of it. 

Extreme contrasts, and the plant characteristics responsible for them, are no 
doubt evident to interested persons; but degrees of prominence in plants, due to 
their form, habit, texture, or value of green, in various combinations, and also 
the contrast of these characteristics with adjacent foliage, — all this close obser- 
vation and comparative study, — ^is unusual but nevertheless necessary. If the habit 
of a tree or a shrub is such as to make for regularity of form and for a sharp, 
distinct outline, then the form itself will largely determine the degree of prom- 
inence. Both ends of the scale, in respect to form, have already been mentioned. 
The most vertical produces, unquestionably, the strongest degree of accent. Con- 
ical forms, and tall, narrow trees whose sides are somewhat rounded, may be 
considered first in degree of prominence. Columnar.eliptical, round, flatly round, 
and similar forms follow in their order of degree of accent; and unless these forms 
are sharply defined, their degree of accent will be largely due to their isolation 
and to their resulting individuality, rather than to their individual prominence 
of form. Doubtless, a plant displaying a very perfect spherical form, due either 
to natural habit of artificial trimming, has a considerable focalizing value. And 
also, if the form is such as to strongly express horizontality, it is thought that 
its degree of accent is greater than those of the intermediate forms. 

Other characteristics, however, play an important r61e in the determination 
of degrees of accent. An evenly fine texture or density of foliage materially 
aids in the expression of form, not only because these characteristics make for 
mass effect, but also because they are likely to result in a clean-cut outline. Of 
course, this may sometimes be accomplished artificially by means of shearing. 
Also, if the branching of a plant or its detailed habit, either in branching or in 
leafing, expresses lines parallel to the general lines of the plant, then the habit 
of the plant accentuates its form. If the outline of a plant is one of densely 
vertical lines, while the branching is evidently variable in direction or even con- 
trary to these lines, then some confusion of expression results, and the degree 
of accent is thereby lessened. Color, or the value of unusual color in foliage, 
results in contrast. But while there are exceptions to all rules, let it be accepted 
without further explanation that, at least in small yards, these contrasts should 
be restricted to the use of darker and richer qualities of green foliage. Further- 
more, coarse-leaved plants and most "weeping" forms are unsuitable for purposes 
of accentuation or for general massing. 

As already suggested, the degree of accent which may be derived from any 
plant depends not only upon the characteristics of the plant itself, but also upon 
its contrast with the adjoining plants. For example, if one is using only form and 



10 

green foliage to create contrasts, or, in brief, only those effects which are sustained 
throughout the year, the most striking contrast is produced by the juxtaposition 
of the most vertical and the most horizontal forms of evergreens. These extreme- 
ly picturesque contrasts are very effective if very cleverly used, but if they are 
employed in situations evidently not requiring them, the work appears amateur- 
ish and crude. Picturesque contrasts in artificial scenery are very quaint and 
pleasing in many instances, but this type of scenery, suitable in small yards, is 
usually the result of combinations of plants and architectural features rather 
than of combinations of plants alone. That quality in the scenery of yards which 
makes for breadth and beauty is most satisfying. A keen evaluation of the degrees 
of accent obtainable from plants enables one to differentiate between plants and 
their effects, to control focalization, and thus to procure the effect desired, 
within a small scale or range of contrast. In this careful manner should the 
element of contrast be used, if the most beautiful entire yard effects are to be 
produced. Unskillful use of plants is always evident in the misuse of contrasts. 



r 



CHAPTER VIII 
SELECTION AND COMBINATION OF PLANTS 

Plants used as individuals, such as shade trees about the house and decorative 
"specimens," outstanding from the borders or flanking the steps at the entrance 
or otherwise isolated from any groups or plantations, attract attention to them- 
selves by reason of their isolation, and therefore become comparatively con- 
spicuous, regardless of the appearance of the plants themselves. As plants so 
used have a degree of prominence to begin with, one should be especially careful 
not to choose as specimens trees or shrubs which will become too conspicuous. 
Of course, the common errors in planting a yard are the use of too showy plants, 
and the promiscuous, unmotivated use of too many of them. As has already 
been said, a mere collection of plants in a yard is quite distinct from a yard 
judiciously planted in accordance with a good design. In small yards, one cannot 
break up the areas with many individual plants without producing both incon- 
venience and ill effects. 

If individual plants can have a useful function to perform in addition to the 
display of their beauty, they will become a more fitting decoration to the unas- 
suming and simple character suitable for small yards. For example, shade 
trees have an apparent use, aside from their decorative value; but too many 
flowering shrubs or fancy trees scattered about have evidently nothing but their 
own attractiveness to contribute to the yard. Even the suggestion of over- 
decoration in a small yard is unfortunate, whether by plants or by architectural 
details. A careful selection of plants and a guarded and skilful use of a few speci- 
mens will accomplish greater effectiveness than will an undiscriminating lavish- 
ness of decoration. 

Individual trees in small yards are very prominent. There is not room for 
many of them, and the trees seem larger by contrast with the smallness of the 
yard. It is wise, therefore, to plan for all the individual trees at one time, and 
with a view to their combined effect. If but a single tree is used in the front yard, 
it should be very carefully placed with respect to the balance of the whole picture 
as seen from the street. If the house is not situated midway across the width 
of the lot, one way to restore the appearance of balance on either side of the en- 
trance walk and the door is to place a tree somewhere on the narrower side. Of 
course, skill is necessary in the selection of a tree of just the right size and appear- 
ance to restore the balance. This tree should not be so obvious as to compete 
for the interest which should center in the house front and the main entrance. 
Neither should it cover up too much of the house, nor be too bulky, or even 
unfortunately small, in comparison with the street trees. Of course, the nearer 
it is to the front door, the less it will count as a balance; and on the other hand, 
the farther it is to the side of the lot, the more important the same tree will 
appear. If, on the opposite, and the larger, side of the front yard another tree 
seems desirable, then the tree for the narrower side may be still larger, and a 
comparatively small tree or even a large shrub will suffice to counterbalance 
it, as the latter will most likely be at a much greater distance from the front 
door. It must be remembered that the front door should be the center of in- 

1 



terest, and therefore conspicuous individual plants on either side of it must be 
so selected and so placed as to correct or preserve this balance. 

If a house stands in the center of its lot, and especially if its facade is a sym- 
metrical one, then any large or conspicuous plants in the front yard should be 
symmetrically placed and should also be of the same kind, or at least not notice- 
ably different. From the discussions in the foregoing chapters, it should be 
evident that no front yard foliage should be unduly conspicuous. Massive and 
round-headed trees and shrubs, for example, are usually more suitable than 
sharply pointed forms. Moreover, this principle applies also to the plants occa- 
sionally used on either side of the front door. When related particularly to some 
details of the house design, plants should, of course, be considerably smaller 
than the trees on the lawn, which on the contrary relate principally to the entire 
house front. However, plants immediately adjoining the doorway may be even more 
conspicuous than the lawn trees; in fact, they may properly be the most promi- 
nent plants in the entire front yard. Frequently fine evergreens or dense, low- 
growing shrubs that are showy with berries in winter when the leaves have fallen, 
are most suitable. At times, it is a good plan to shear such deciduous shrubs in 
order to give them a more distinct and regular form. Unless the house and 
the door are very elaborate, rounded forms are best. The whole front should be 
thus carefully studied as a picture, and the individual plants proposed for the 
area should be subordinated to the tout ensemble. 

Trees standing on either side of the house, or even behind it, when seen from 
the street become a part of this aspect, and must be taken into account. Very 
high boundary planting intended to enclose a garden effectively, may become 
so prominent in the front-yard scene as to require the use of a stronger accent 
on the narrow side of the front lawn, such as a massive tree or a tall-boled tree 
with a spreading top, in order to preserve the balance in the front. It is usually 
best, however, to plant about the house those large trees which have an indefinite 
form and growth habit, as, in the last analysis, these are but accessory to the 
house and therefore should not be conspicuous in themselves. Trees rising above 
the house and in its rear, frequently add greatly to the appearance of the building 
and to the homelike atmosphere of the entire property. But such trees should 
likewise have broadly spreading tops. The most important rear view of- a house 
is that from the lawn behind it, and this is of necessity limited. A shade tree, 
tall and somewhat spreading in habit, is frequently well placed near the porches 
or terraces overlooking the rear lawns, for there it provides useful shade as well 
as making the views from the house out over the lawn more pleasing and inter- 
esting. 

On a small rear lawn there is rarely space for more than one large tree in addi- 
tion to those required for the border planting. In fact, unless this lawn is un- 
usually large, medium-sized trees are probably better than large ones. For 
example, a large tree such as the elm or the red or white oak will, at maturity, 
have a spread of branches amounting to about sixty feet in diameter. Other 
trees which will grow equally tall without spreading so widely, and therefore will 
neither occupy so much space nor cast too much shade, may be selected. As 
another alternative, one may select trees of a form and habit similar to that of 
well-known larger trees but smaller in every way. If high-headed trees, such as 
the elm, are desired, unless one can plant fairly large trees at the start, it will 



be necessary to wait until they have grown before all their lower branches can 
be cut oflF. Of course, if one can afford it, large trees should be purchased at the 
start for the distinctive positions about the house. Under these circumstances, 
both the desired species and a habit particularly suitable may be simultaneously 
obtained. However, whether one or two specimen trees are to be used in the rear, 
and whether they are to be near the house, or distant from it, or both, the spa- 
ciousness of the lawn should by no means be obstructed, nor the good quality of 
the turf broken by too much shade. Generally speaking, all such trees should be 
either grouped about the house in order to appear related primarily to it, or 
sufficiently near the boundaries to somewhat demark the extremities of the lot. 
It is thought that a judicious use of large trees, for the most part of the indefinite 
class, does not clutter up a small property, affords shade where it is needed, and 
thus may contribute materially to the effect of enclosure and of a pleasant, home- 
like atmosphere. 

In the case of an enclosed lawn which is very deep and ample, a recess in the 
borders and views terminating therein may be accentuated in depth by means of 
two or more massive trees disposed on either side of the recess, thus narrowing 
it. Of course, this use of individual trees requires foliage not of itself very notice- 
able, as the plants of showy nature must be located in the depth of the recess in 
order to accentuate the length of the view. Large shrubs may be used where 
the space is more limited with similar but with not as marked results. Specimen 
shrubs and trees located at the far sides of lawns and serving primarily as termini 
for long views from the house may be of a somewhat conspicuous nature. How- 
ever, unless the lawns are quite ample, plants intended to sharply terminate the 
longest view lines, thus giving prominence to the lawn's greatest dimensions, had 
best be incorporated in the borders. 

In addition to these possibilities for the use of individual plants there are, of 
course, many which pertain more particularly to specific conditions in various 
yards, and these are none the less important. Among these particular oppor- 
tunities are situations at the angles of houses, in which a single, fine, large plant 
looks far better than a lot of little plants, or even than a number of larger 
plants. Also the use of evergreen, or even deciduous, specimens, regularly disposed 
in formal garden plans or picturesquely grouped or scattered in unconventional 
arrangements, may serve effectively to delineate the design, to decorate the garden, 
and to contribute good color. Moreover, the horticultural nature of these showy 
plants also contributes to their gardenlike character. To use the right plant in 
the right place is exceedingly important when dealing with plants which must 
of necessity be more or less conspicuous; and there is but one safe course with 
respect to individual plants: to use too few, and the less conspicuous kinds, 
rather than too many. 

Groups of plants, by reason of their isolation, receive a degree of prominence, 
as their circumstances are not unlike those of single plants standing quite alone. 
Hence, in selecting and arranging plants for groups, one should observe much the 
same caution that is necessary in the use of individual plants; and if the group is 
intended for focalization, one should remember that it will have a degree of 
prominence as a group, quite aside from the conspicuousness of the individual plants 
of which it is composed. 



Groups may be a part of conventionally arranged planting, as well as of 
unconventional, or so-called "informal," planting about lawns and other areas. 
The use of groups in unconventional planting schemes will, of course, be more 
common in small yards, — in such positions as the angles of walks, the corners of 
grass plots, the termini of vistas, at house corners, and in similar places. In all 
such groups, it is usually necessary to space the plants at unequal intervals, and 
not in rows, but irregularly, although cleverly and purposely, with a view to pro- 
ducing the desired effect. For example, a small group of three plants would 
usually be arranged on the plan of a triangle with all of its sides unequal. A group 
may be compact, resulting eventually in all the plants merging to some degree 
and thus giving the effect of a single plant; or it may be merged below and have 
the tops of the individual plants distinct, all depending upon the spacing of the 
plants and on their habits of growth. Again, a group of three plants may be 
spaced more widely, resulting in two of the plants merging to some degree while 
the third stands somewhat apart as an individual. Sometimes it is even possible 
to so arrange the spacing of three or more plants that there is no merging what- 
ever, although the group appearance is preserved. Of course, equal and close 
spacing ^;ends to produce a mass effect and a more regular one; but the more 
varied and picturesque effect resulting from an unequal spacing is, in most 
cases, more suitable. Variety of light and shade and of skyHne is possible in small 
groups only to a limited degree. But in situations where five or more plants 
may be used, variety of effect may be produced more easily by the use of a greater 
number of plants in a studied but irregular arrangement. 

Usually situations needing small groups do not call for a conspicuous plant 
feature, but merely for a mass of foliage specific only in quantity and in generally 
rounded outline. Therefore, small groups at the corners of buildings, at the angles 
of walks, and in like situations, should, in most cases, consist of but one kind of 
plant. If a group of three is desired, with the middle plant taller than those on 
either side, then, as they are planted, a taller one may be selected for this position, 
or even when the plants are being purchased suitable sizes may be procured for 
this grouping. As the plants of such groups grow, their relative heights will be 
maintained. One should reaHze, however, that in groups and masses, the inside 
plants tend to grow taller, according as they are crowded, while those on the out- 
side tend to spread and to grow more laterally. Hence, if several plants of the 
same species and the same size are planted sufficiently close to merge as they 
grow, equal spacing will tend to result in evenly rounded masses (higher in the 
center than at the edges), and unequal spacing will tend to produce masses of 
varied and undulating outlines. Therefore, it is not necessary to employ different 
kinds of plants to produce groups of somewhat varied forms. However, the pro- 
posed forms and outlines may be reahzed somewhat sooner, if, when the groups 
are being planted, the plants are carefully selected with respect to their sizes and 
shapes, and if they are assembled accordingly, — tall ones where height is desired, 
and low, spreading ones about the edges. By this means, and as a result of the 
natural tendency in plants of the same species to assume different habits of growth 
and rates of growth, within a few years groups consisting of but one kind of shrub 
or tree will display a sufficient variety of foliage and form to prevent monotony. 
These suggestions apply equally well to shrubs and to trees of all sizes. 



Usually it is easier to make interesting groups by using a number of plants 
rather than a few; and, if the number must be small, perhaps it is easier to work 
with odd numbers. In large groups and in unconventional ones, the spacing is 
still according to a studied irregularity, with a view to obtaining the desired 
variety. Usually, the best appearance of .a picturesque treatment requires a 
variety of height in several places but with no two alike, with the possible excep- 
tion of the lower plants. Further, a group is more interesting if its highest part 
is distinctly "off center, "and also if the several high places are so arranged as to 
make for a pleasing, up-and-down outline, or skyline. In this scheme of spacing 
and skyline, however, it is also necessary to so compose the planting as to obtain 
the appearance of balance on either side of the highest point. Furthermore, this 
appearance of balance should be satisfactory from all sides, or at least from all 
points from which the group may be seen. In such groups, it is also possible 
to obtain the same effects with plants of but a single species. 

Occasionally groups are needed as a means of focahzation, as for termini of 
long walks, and vistas, and for other similar situations. For such purposes it is 
not always necessary to resort to the sharpest contrasts in order to produce accents 
of a satisfactory degree, although it is well to know of these possibilities. In a 
group of three, for example, the strongest accent is made by selecting, for the 
tallest plant, one of vertical form and habit, and for the other two, rounded forms 
of distinctly smaller size. All plants may be evergreen, or the rounded forms 
may be deciduous if the desired shapes can be found, or perhaps made, artificially, 
by occasional shearing. Larger groups of a similar degree of focahzation will 
result from the use of more of the same elements, but it may be advisable to 
decrease the ratio of taller plants as the entire number of plants is Increased. 
Only rarely should one venture to use plants of markedly different colors for 
purposes of focahzation. On the contrary, it should be noted that degrees of 
contrast are more effectually increased or lessened, respectively, by a variation 
in the ratio of the sizes of the vertical and the horizontal elements. 

Groups of considerable prominence may be made by the use of taller eliptical 
or rounded plants with other rounded plants which are smaller or not so tall. 
Very pretty groups may be composed entirely of a variety of rounded forms, 
some of which may be very fine evergreens. In these groups, however, some of the 
plants should be of free and graceful habit, thus, in an unobtrusive manner, 
harmonizing the sharply defined evergreen .forms with the rest of the group. 
One should guard against the temptation to use too showy evergreens, however, 
especially in the yards adjoining simple frame houses. For most planting, the 
native evergreens, rather than imported or horticultural varieties, and deciduous 
shrubs are usually more suitable. Many deciduous shrubs are by habit regular 
and dense, and therefore well fitted for picturesque groups. These, with or with- 
out shearing to render them still more perfect, and combined with other decidu- 
ous shrubs of a somewhat indefinite habit, will frequently prove decidedly 
attractive. It should be remembered that all groups receive a certain degree of 

prominence merely from their isolation. 

The use of too great a variety of plants must be avoided if the most interesting 
groups are to be made. In all the variations between mass effects and picturesque 
effects,— in fact, in all groups, — one kind of a plant should predominate in quan- 
tity, and as a rule this should be the least striking plant. From this it may be 



6 

inferred that but a small proportion of conspicuous plants is necessary for a 
well-balanced group. While it is dangerous to be too specific, let us say, for ex- 
ample, that in a group of three plants it is unwise to use more than two kinds. 
The same is true for a group of five, and possibly even of six or seven. In groups 
of three, five, or seven, the accent plants should probably number one, one or 
two, and two, respectively. It is evident that an increase in the number of con- 
spicuous plants would very likely destroy the balance of the group. However, 
this use of figures and of exact proportions in examples must not be mistaken for 
absolute rules, but should be regarded merely as illustrations of the general 
principles applicable to most cases. 

Three varieties may perhaps be combined into a group that includes in all 
about ten plants, if the accent plants are of but a single kind and if the two 
other kinds composing the mass of the group are similar. Further, in order to 
maintain the predominance of one kind of foliage, the two similar varieties should 
not be used in equal proportions. Rather, the divisions should be made apparently 
unequal. To instu-e this unequal division by the time the plants of the group 
have matiured, the fact that one species perhaps grows faster or becomes larger 
than the other should be noted at the start, and each plant should be accordingly 
Hsed in quantities which will insure the desired proportion in the ultimate effect. 
Usually groups larger than those composed of ten plants are necessary to obtain 
satisfactory effects when more than two varieties are used in a group. However, 
larger groups, or those so long as to resemble a continuous border, may, under 
some circumstances, include greater variety of foliage and form. But the principle 
of employing slight, rather than strong, contrasts, and that of relying upon dif- 
ferent forms of similar values of green, rather than upon a variety of colors, to 
produce contrast in the desired degree, should both be generally applied in the 
composition of groups. The tendency to use too great a variety of plants should 
be resisted upon all occasions, and selection should be made in accordance with 
reason and well-laid plans. 

The word group implies singleness, or unity, and not a spotty effect of three, 
five, seven, or any other definite number of individual plants which may be in- 
tended to constitute a group. This undesirable appearance is lilcely to result 
when the variety of plants used is too great, or when the plants all possess too 
definite a form or habit of growth. After the plants have matured, the appearance 
of the group should be that of a whole, — not that of several distinct shrubs or 
trees. No doubt a rounded, massive group gives the least impression a^ being 
composed of separate plants; but even the most picturesque group should have 
its unlike elements balanced with such nicety as to render its conspicuous plants 
less evident individually, while at the same time making them contributory to 
the effectiveness of the entire group. It is even possible, by careful and skilful 
composition, to space the plants of a group so widely as to entirely prevent their 
merging, while at the same time producing a satisfactory unified effect. The 
skill necessary to compose groups of trees or shrubs in accordance with the 
principles of design, may, in a measure, be natural to some persons, but it is more 
apt to be the result of study and experience. However, if one will adopt an easy 
way of doing his planting, and will keep it simple rather than complex, and will 
work for subdued rather than striking contrasts, he may be reasonably assured 
of results which are both pleasing and in good taste. 



In the making of groups, as well as in all the uses of plants, one must learn 
to distirguish between contrasts which are harmonious, and those which are 
absolutely ircorgruous. Discordant colors, irreconcilable differences between 
the abnormal habits of freak plants and the natural habits of comm.on plants, 
and the discreparcy of texture caused by the juxtaposition of plants having very 
large and these having very small leaves, are all alike incongruities. In many 
cases, the plant groups seen on lawns have more the appearance of heterogeneous 
collections than of groups. Furthermore, unity requires that all plants in any 
one group have one or more similar characteristics. It is comparatively easy to 
make a selection of plants of different form or habit yet similar in value of green and 
perhaps similar also in texture. Ip such a selection, the similarity of color and 
texture serves to join all the plants into a unified group. A number of similarly 
rourded plant forms having shghtly different tones of green may likewise be 
selected, and in this case their similarity of form will serve to unify the group. 
In the use of fowering plants, it is wise to employ but a single color other than 
white, ard to use a preponderance of white as the underlying element. Groups 
consisting of hke plants and tending to result in mass effects are essentially 
homogeneous. With the introduction of unlike and contrasting elements, however, 
an intermixture of less-definite, rounded forms and low foliage is necessary, and, 
while of itself not especially evident, this intermixture serves to unify the group. 
It is not pOFsible to build scenery by the use of contrasts alone. 

Continuous planting along property lines or between the several areas of a 
yard functions primarily as barriers. The means of enclosure should always be 
effective, but the borders may also be attractive and in places even decorative. 
An easy way to plan borders is to begin by thinking of them all as hedges. When 
their extent has been determined, an examination of the plan will perhaps enable 
one to select the points where decorative plants may be used to the best advantage. 
In order to make detailed plans for the borders, it is necessary to visualize 
both the existing conditions and the proposed planting as it will grow. One 
must be able to imagine the appearance of it in order to prepare a ground plan 
of it, for that is merely a record of one's mental picture and a guide for the actual 
planting operations. The sides of each area may be studied by standing directly 
opposite each one and sketching the effects proposed for any part of its borders. 
A sketch may be made by only two lines, the ground line and the skyline, and 
in such a sketch the space intervening represents the mass effect of- the planting. 
Any means whereby one can picture more clearly the situation and what he 
would like to make of it,— a rough sketch, or a more careful drawing of its elevations 
and so forth,— will be helpful. If one has a good imagination, he may be able to 
visuaUze clearly the situation and the desired effects, and so decide upon the 
plants suitable for his purposes. As a rule the borders should be mere back- 
grounds, but it may be easier for some to begin by thinking of them as plain hedges, 
and then to plan for the diversification of the skyline or the face of the border 
by inserting lower-growing, decorative plants. A general plan or sketch of an 
en+ire lot which indicates the location and the outHnes of the main features 
furnishes some suggestions for the detailed plans for the borders, and also, perhaps, 
for lines of view and points for accent. 

Accentuation by means of plants, and degrees of accent have akeady been 
mentioned and discussed somewhat abstractly. But one may ask: What relation 



8 

have the different plants to the plan for arrangement further than the mere 
amount of ground space that they occupy? What bearing have scenic effects on 
the use of a yard? Why may not a pretty effect in plants look as well in one place 
as in another? 

The need of certain planting effects in the front yard has been explained. In 
the case of gardens, there are few persons who will not understand the need of 
hedges or walls to make suitable backgrounds for the color of the flowers. They 
will not, however, be much concerned about the kinds of plants used to enclose 
such practical features as laundry yards and vegetable gardens. But the lawns, 
— whether including a greater part of the yard or merely an ample area carefully 
reserved by the economical allotment of the yard space and desirably enclosed 
to make them somewhat private for purposes of family recreation, — these, in 
the popular conception, are but open grass plots surrounded by border planting. 
Is there no ordering of the scenery of this area by which its attractiveness may 
be increased? 

A lawn is seen more from some points of view than from others. It is seen 
most from certain windows, porches, or terraces of a house, all approximating 
the same point of view, and this view of the lawn may be called the prospect 
from the house. This being the case, the general plan of the lawn should not 
only make for convenient access to living rooms, porches, and terraces, but 
in outline and plan it should look its best from this point of view. Even the 
modeling of the ground and the details of the scenery should be considered and 
planned primarily from the point of view of the house. This prospect will be 
more pleasing if the full size of the area can be apparent, or if it can be made to 
appear even larger than it actually is. For a certainty, any details of its plan 
which might make it appear smaller should be rejected. If the borders all about 
the lawn are alike, or are so evenly varied as to produce no particular focalization, 
then the center of interest will be the approximate center of the area. If a single 
conspicuous plant, or a prominent group of plants, is situated in the open turf 
area or in the border planting, one's eye will unconsciously fix upon that point, 
and one's evaluation of the entire lawn will be largely determined by the attri- 
butes of this particular aspect of it. If the interest is situated at the point farthest 
from the house, the greatest dimensions of the lawn will receive prominence. 
Therefore, in the plans for most yards, that corner of the lawn which is in view 
but most remote from the house should be marked by the most conspicuous 
planting effects. In yards which are very long and narrow, the difference in 
length between a diagonal and an axis line is not worth considering. Therefore, 
in order to fix upon a point in the borders for the best view, a study of the situation 
should be made from points just within or just without the house. The lawn 
should be presented to the best advantage, and the shape of this area may suggest 
that the line of view be directly to the rear, to one of the corners, or to the side 
border. Again, in the case of formal lawns or of those of regular outlines, 
it may seem best to employ a balanced grouping of conspicuous plants — groups 
or individuals, — in all corners and about all sides. However, in some formal 
lawns, and surely in all lawns of informal character, it is more pleasing if the 
greatest interest is concentrated at one point, whether or not lesser points of 
interest are made at other places. In most city and suburban lots of rectilinear 
outline, the house will be parallel to the lot lines and to the b'nes of division between 



the several areas of the yard. Thus thelot will also necessarily be parallel to the 
axis of the living room. Therefore, from this room and possibly also from other 
rooms, a point in the far borders which is on the same axis as those rooms will 
be plainly visible from both within and just outside the house. Similarly, outlooks 
from porches or terraces toward the side boundary and along a line parallel with 
the rear face of the house may also be accentuated. 

After the position for the most important terminus has been determined, 
great care should be exercised in fixing upon others. In order to determine the 
elements necessary for a single good view, or to plan the development of several 
points of particular interest in the scenery of a yard, one must first understand 
something about views, and recognize wherein the merits of views consist. Occa- 
sionalty one finds a view which particularly appeals to him. It may be a 
scene in the country, or an artificial one arranged on the grounds of some resi- 
dence. If one tries to reproduce a prearranged effect in his own yard, he may find 
helpful, though perhaps abstract, suggestions in an analysis of good examples, 
or even of pictures, of landscapes. 

When an artist sees a view which he wishes to reproduce, he is impressed 
primarily by some particular object or by some definite aspect of it. He takes 
little or no note of all the accompanying details, even though these may be 
sufficiently apparent to be evident at some distance. And, if one stops to think 
of it, this is precisely the way in which everyone sees a view. We never see all 
its component parts, but only the plainly visible things and the objects which 
happen to appeal to us. If an artist attempted to reproduce all the details, he would 
find it impossible to do so. Therefore, he expresses in detail only what seems 
important to him, and only suggests, in an indefinite way, what to him appears 
of secondary interest. In this way, the principal object of interest is thrown into 
prominence. The objects of lesser interest are so presented and arranged as to 
balance the interest that focuses on the center of the picture. Of all the space 
included within the frame of a picture, those things of which one really takes 
note occupy but a comparatively small proportion. The indefinite surrounding part 
of a picture not only furnishes an harmonious setting for the subject, but serves 
as an insulating band, or zone, between the picture as a whole and the wall and 
other nearby objects. 

In pictures, the interest is centered in the foreground, in the middle ground, 
or in the distance; and if the chief point of interest is in the distance, the fore- 
ground and the middle-ground details are not emphasized. In a yard there is 
usually opportunity to use a porch, a summerhouse, or a garden seat as a nearby 
object of interest. In this case, one is, in reality, dealing with a foreground 
picture. A decorative effect in a far corner of a lawn becomes the terminus of 
a view, and the appropriate neutral foreground to such a view is the lawn. 

Wlierever the interest is to be centered, all that is in front of it, behind it, or 
on either side of it should be inconspicuous. If one plans to develop a diagonal 
line of view from the house toward a far corner of the lawn, there should be nothing 
striking or distracting in the borders or within one's field of vision on either side. 
In order to make good views, a generous amount of indefinite foliage must be 
provided about the centers of interest, wherever these may be located. Therefore 
particularly interesting single plants or groups of plants should be placed far 



10 

enough apart to insure their being seen separately and to the best advantage 
against an ample background. 

Naturally, it is desirable to have some reciprocity of views about the entire 
area of the private grounds. Not only from the house to the lawns or gardens, 
but also from the lawns back to the house, and particularly about the steps 
marking the access to the lawn, should the vista be pleasing. If there is a summer- 
house or paved area for chairs out in the garden, an interesting glimpse of the 
lawn should be provided therefrom. Thus, in order to organize these lines of 
view, it is well to indicate them on the general plan by means of lines and especially 
to mark their termini with arrows. The lines of view may intersect, but usually 
the termini may be kept well apart and even entirely segregated. This may be 
accomplished by a clever manipulation of the curves in the border outline, or 
at times by the use of outstanding individuals or grouped shrubs. Frequently 
the same point may serve as a focus for more than one view, or the plants which 
from one point of view are a part of one composition may be made to combine 
effectively also with those seen primarily from another viewpoint. From any 
place about the house, in the gardens, or on the lawns where one is likely to sit 
down or loiter, and thus to take particular notice of that which is about him, 
the scenery should be of special interest. The planting of the yard should be 
devised with this in mind. However, in anj' one direction, but one pictiu"e 
should appear. While each bit of artificial scenery should be somewhat different, 
it should not be markedly unlike the rest. The planting schemes of a yard need 
not be intricate to be attractive; and whether or not there are many studied 
views, a yard will always be more interesting, if from one point of view, there is 
a vista which is unquestionably more attractive than any of the rest. A view 
across the longest stretch of greensward is the most characteristic of lawn scenery 
and is usually the most impressive. 

Detailed methods of planning pictures in the borders involve many of the 
suggestions already given in the discussion of plant characteristics and in the 
explanations of the kinds and degrees of accent produced by individual plants 
and by combinations of plants. In mass planting, however, the characteristics 
which are' most evident are those which are seen silhouetted against the sky, — 
in other words, that part of any plant which rises above the tops of the flanking 
masses. The suggestion for studying these border effects in outline has already 
been made. Perhaps by now it is evident that if, between focuses, the skyline 
of the border follows an undulating and somewhat indefinite line, and that if, 
at these focuses, the skyline rises in rounded, columnar, conical, or pointed forms, 
then, the forms employed, together with their degrees of definiteness, their size, 
their difference in height and their contrasting characteristics in varied combi- 
nations will determine the degree of accent they produce in the silhouette of the 
border. On the contrary, any marked depression in the skyline of a border will 
also produce an accent, especially if beyond it the adjoining area is comparatively 
open. Larger openings in the borders, for the enjoyment of distant views, should 
be flanked by indefinite foliage, preferably that of trees. In small yards it is 
undesirable thus to open the borders on the lines of the longest views from the 
interior, as, bj' comparison with the distance, these views are thereby made to 
appear shorter, and the apparent size of the yard is also reduced. 



11 

Decorative effects in the borders may be made without any variation of their 
skylines. Low-growing but distinctive individual plants or groups of plants, or 
the color of flowering or fruiting vegetation, may be used in many ways to effect 
a focalization of the desired character and degree. Of course, if transient effects, 
such as flowers, are used, then plants which flower at other seasons, or which have 
color in the autumn, must be included, or some other means must be devised by 
which the desired effects can be sustained throughout the year. In the use of 
contrasts between plants of definite form or habit, one must consider also the 
contrast of his proposed group in relation to that of its background, which may 
be a wall, a hedge, or a free-growing border. If color is used as an accent, it should 
be kept below the skyline. With the variety of plants that is available, very 
strong focalization can be made in the face of a border. If such conspicuous 
groups or combinations rise above the prevailing line of the borders, then the 
effect is thereby increased if not actually doubled. 

Some persons delight in studying the seasonal effects in color. These will find 
it possible to employ color for all the accents; to express thereby the desired degree 
of focalization at each terminus; and to select and to combine plants so as to sustain 
a scheme of color accent during the entire growing season. In winter, however, 
such planting is likely to be uninteresting, and it is then that we especially appre- 
ciate any attractiveness that may be possible in the plantations. Hence it is 
well to combine with color plants some permanent effects in woody plants, 
particularly in evergreens. Especially should one endeavor to select, for both 
accentuation and background, those shrubs and trees whose growth habits are 
sufficiently dense to avoid a thin and scraggly appearance in the winter. While 
all plants do not adjtist themselves to shearmg, most of them may be made to 
grow more densely either by moderate shearing or by pruning the "leaders." 
Pinching off the leaders forces the lateral branches, and in some cases also develops 
more branches. However, this process does not necessarily materially affect the 
free-growing habit or the general appearanceof the plant, except that it encourages 
compactness and restrains growth. Evergreens, especially the hemlock, are always 
desirable in the borders. At times the Douglas fir and some of the pines may also 
be suitable. As backgrounds for color, these evergreens are most desirable, and 
in the winter they are always appreciated. A varied skyline may be developed 
from them, either by planting different sizes at the start or by topping and other- 
wise shaping them. 

The most pleasing borders for lawns, even if somewhat small, must include 
some trees. A border consisting entirely of shrubs is very monotonous indeed. 
Trees in the borders require somewhat more space than do shrubs, but they are 
well worth the additional ground space. Those species of trees should be selected 
which branch to the ground and thus, within a reasonable time, will of themselves 
make a solid wall of foliage. Very few trees and shrubs do well growing close 
together, but in order to combine them successfully it is only necessarj^ to be 
forewarned of the difficulty, and to proceed advisedly and carefuUj^ Plants which 
naturally grow in the shade always do better in close proximity than do those 
requiring the full sunlight, and of course most plants are of the sun-loving type. 
Rapid-growing trees are likely to have many roots, and thus will starve out less 
robust plants whose roots are competing in the same soil. 



12 

If the trees overtop them, the nearby plants are Hkewise less able to compete 
for existence. Deeper soil in the beds is of course one remedy, but a careful selec- 
tion of the plants to be combined is a better course and promises greater success. 
Trees which are intended to overtop shrubs should have but a thin canopy of 
foliage and thus cast little or no shade. Shrubs requiring full sunlight should not 
be planted so close to trees that the trees, when mature, will shade them. There 
are, however, several native shrubs and small trees which thrive under heavy 
shading and mingle their branches and foliage with those of the adjacent trees 
without giving any effect of crowding. Among these the witch-hazel is best, though 
the viburnums and cornuses also do fairly well. Most trees look best if they are 
clothed from the ground up with their own foliage, and used in this fashion they 
interrupt the monotony of the shrubs more effectively. Shrubs may be tempo- 
rarily planted about trees for the better appearance of a newly planted border, 
but if this is done, they should be taken out before they crowd the lower branches 
of the trees. 

Trees are essential in a border, as both their foliage and their forms as a whole 
contribute to produce an expression of larger scale and a better quality of back- 
ground. Therefore, in some manner, provision should be made for them. With 
little difficulty, and with even less care than would be necessary for shrubs occupy- 
ing the same space, trees may be trained to grow more laterally along the line 
of the border, rather than forward over the lawn. The leaders of branches may 
be pruned at any distance from the trunk of the tree. This may even be done 
occasionally to all branches on one or more sides of the tree and without noticeably 
changing its appearance, if the pruning is done in a somewhat even manner. 
Trees planted within a few feet of a boundary fence will, of course, spread over 
the fence; but neighbors seldom object to this. If a street adjoins, it is possible 
to make the border trees serve also as street trees, or at least to so space them 
that they shall not interfere with other street trees. Street trees may be selected 
to combine as they grow with the plants within the yard. But whether trees com- 
pose a majority of the border material or only a few are included in the borders 
their effect should not be entirely omitted. If the largest trees cannot be used, then 
smaller-growing kinds should be selected. 

A brief description of the various kinds of border planting should call attention 
to the possibilities and the a dvantages of hedges. In the popular conception, hedges 
are from two to fovir feet high, are usually scraggly and thin at the base, and are 
ordinarily composed of barberry or privet. As a matter of fact, hedges may be 
grown to almost any desired height or width, according to the choice made for 
them of trees or shrubs, and according to the spacing and trimming they receive. 
Many small city yards may appropriately be enclosed by hedges of tall-growing 
shrubs or small trees, in order to save space. An inexpensive, woven-wire fence 
on the outside, through which the hedge will grow, will soon be hidden, but re- 
mains to protect the hedge at the base and to make a more effective barrier. The 
plants may be set in single, double, or triple rows, or in as many rows as are re- 
quired, in accordance with the habits of the plants used, to produce the desired 
width. A row of taller-growing plants may be planted in the center with rows of 
lower-growing and more spreading plants on either side. Similar or different kinds 
of plants, as are thought suitable, may likewise be used. A hedge may be trimmed 
to a square, a rectangular, a truncated, or a rounded section, or it may even be 



13 

allowed to grow with little or no trimming. If a hedge about an entire area seems 
monotonous, one may arrange single plants or groups in some or all of the corners. 
In areas not large enough to afford space for a continuous informal border, masses 
may be employed in the corners, and on the sides hedges may be used to connect 
them. Most persons realize the value of hedges in gardens; but few recognize 
that they are very economical borders for small areas. Thus, considering their 
uses and the varied effects which may be obtained with them, this method of 
planting is worthy of observation and study. 

While it is scarcely possible, by means of written descriptions, to teach persons 
to select and to arrange plants successfully, a few suggestions can be given which 
may encourage closer observation. First of all, a few things about each plant 
must be known or ascertained before any kind can be selected for particular uses 
or definite positions and before it can be so spaced into or combined with a group, 
a hedge, or a larger plantation, as to produce certain preconceived effects in 
accordance with a rearranged plan. If, because of its form or habit, one has 
selected a certain plant for a specific position in the plan of a yard, he must know 
whether, in that position, it will receive enough sunlight, whether the proposed 
position will be too cold and exposed or too dry for it, and \^hether the eventual 
spread of its branches will necessitate some allowance in order to space it properly. 
Most plants thrive under normal conditions, and with a more detailed knowledge 
of these, and, in fact, of all plants, better success may be attained. The space 
required by a plant may be ascertained by observing the habits and spread of 
mature plants of the same kind; one may also consult a nurseryman. According 
to these data, plants may be so spaced as to merge closely, or slightly, or to have 
any required distance between them at maturity. 

In preparing a plan for border planting, or in staking out on the ground the 
positions for the plants, it is best to arrange first the distinctive, individual plants 
and groups which are to mark the focal points in the border. Then the less-con- 
spicuous plants which are to connect the focal points and to fill in the intervening 
spaces in the border may be planned. The spacing of groups which are a part 
of the borders should be done very carefully, and in a similar manner to that 
described for outstanding groups on the lawn. If the trees or shrubs intended to 
be prominent are low-growing, they should be set forward, and the group should 
be brought to the edge of the border; on the other hand, if they are tall-growing 
and are intended to rise from the mass about them, they should be placed further 
toward the back, and the indefinite mass planting of the border should be con- 
tinued across in front of them. Deciduous plants, especially those of a spreading 
habit, should not be used in conjunction with evergreens, as they crowd the 
evergreens, shade and kill their lower branches, and in the winter have a very 
shabby appearance. Evergreens and deciduous trees which are intended to "face" 
themselves (to have no shrubs in front of them) should be placed near the front 
of the border, or within such a distance of it that the branches will eventually 
spread and join it. Generally speaking, the trees and the larger shrubs which are 
to be incorporated therein should be placed nearer the front or "the back of the 
border, rather than midway between its edges. In a mixture of evergreens and 
deciduous plants, only those deciduous varieties should be selected which will 
not spread unduly. If they are intended to merge with the evergreens, however, 



14 

only those deciduous plants which are sufficiently dense to have in winter an 
appearance similar to that in summer should be chosen. 

While planning or staking out the plants, one should constantly bear in mind 
the spread of each plant at its maturity, and the immediate appearance of a 
plantation should always be sacrificed for its future effect. Plantations made for 
immediate effect will require annual thinning or replanting to some extent for 
at least ten years. On the other hand, if one wishes to save expense, and can 
afford to wait three or four years for reasonably good appearances, then with 
plants spaced upon the basis of a permanent plan, he will be surprised to find 
what a small number are actually required to plant his yard effectively. Of course, 
each kind of plant requires a different spacing, and shrubs spread and grow to a 
satisfactory degree of maturity faster than do trees. But all the plants of a border 
will do best, and in the end make a better looking border, if so spaced as 
to barely merge when their ultimate lateral growth is attained. 

Trees mature more slowly than do shrubs. Furthermore, they make very little 
lateral growth until their rapid upward growth is completed. For example, an 
American elm twenty-five feet high rarely has a spread of more than ten feet in 
diameter, but of course this tree grows very rapidly, and, as it is not very dense, 
and also eventually spreads widely, it is not good for borders in small yards. The 
English beech is slow growing, but it spreads laterally when but a young tree and 
with but little training may be restrained from spreading unduly over the lawn. 
The American beech is a taller tree than the English variety, and not so dense. 
Both these trees are very good for use in a border, especially because they will 
thrive under somewhat shaded and crowded conditions. In these respects hem- 
locks are also well qualified, but it is well to keep spreading and strong-growing 
shrubs and trees from crowding them too closely. However, as tall trees grow 
more slowly than shrubs, it is customary to fill in about them with shrubs for 
temporary appearance. In this case the trees should be carefully located with 
respect to their future growth, and the outline of the border should be delineated 
as intended for its future development. Then the space intervening, and, in fact, 
all the area about the tree, should be filled in with the temporary shrubs. One 
must be sure to pull out all these shrubs before they crowd the tree or the other per- 
manent plants, and if this is likely to be neglected, the temporary plants had 
better not be used. 

When the distinctive groups and individual trees and shrubs have been located 
and staked about the lawn, the general outline of the border may next be deter- 
mined at the more important points. The entire outline of the borders should 
in general be a reasonable one: it should be consistent with the size of the area; 
it should be suggested by the form of the area and in relation to the adjoining 
areas; it should be adapted to the focal points and to the lines of view. 
The outline should also be smoothly curved, and should define not an angular but a 
pleasing form. The curves should not all be similar; some of them should be 
larger and some smaller, with the smaller curves not so narrowly and deeply in- 
dented as to be eventually obliterated by the future growth of the plants. Usually 
it is easier to work out the first general scheme for planting on the plan of the 
entire yard, or on a tracing thereof, as by this means one can get a conception 
of the entire yard at a glance. If planning on paper proves difficult, one may, 
after determining the main points and outlines, turn to the yard itself, and work 



15 

out the details with its actual conditions about him. One way to study the general 
spacing of the plants on the ground is to represent the various kinds by stakes of 
different colors, or of distinctly different lengths, or otherwise differentiated. The 
effects of the different kinds of plants in the various positions may thus be clearly 
visualized. Some means should be adopted whereby one can study his planting at 
leisure and can visualize its relation to the other plants already growing on and 
about the yard. When all has been most carefully studied and checked, the holes 
may be dug and the plants set without the necessity of resetting, loss of time, and 
perhaps injury to the plants themselves. 

The planting scheme for a yard should also be studied in some of its general 
aspects. Perhaps when the detailed plans for planting in the several areas have 
been prepared, the entire plans should be reviewed and checked and possibly 
slightly revised, before final decisions are made. This will further assure the 
production of the most pleasing entire effect. For example, within any one area 
all the plants should be arranged in a somewhat balanced manner. One side of 
a lawn should not be planted with but one combination of plants while the plant- 
ing along its other sides is made up entirely of other kinds of vegetation. Were 
the planting correctly done, some of the kinds occurring in larger masses on 
one side would also be used in one or two smaller masses on the other side. Plants in 
any degree conspicuous should be balanced, — unsymmetrically of course, — on 
all view lines. This arrangement will make them fit well into the composition 
of the whole, and will produce the desired focalization at the termini. Each of 
the several areas should be so planted as to contribute to the interior scenery and 
to the effects suitable for that area and in pleasing contrast with the other areas. 
Nevertheless, the plants selected for the various parts of a yard should not produce 
effects so radically different as to seem to be parts of different properties. Some 
plants of the same kind should be used in varying degrees in all of the areas, and 
the remainder of the plants of the same scheme should also be somewhat similar. 

The appearance of a yard will be determined, to a large extent, by the vegeta- 
tion employed and by the skill with which it is arranged, assuming, of course, that 
all has been based upon a carefully planned arrangement. Small yards should, 
if possible, be decorated with some architectural features which are also apparently 
useful. While expensive at the start, they are permanent features and also con- 
tribute in the summer to the pleasureable life in the yard and are interesting to 
look at in the winter. But the planting is likely to be the dominant element in the 
yard, and the general effects are the most noticeable and the most important. 
At the very beginning, then, one should be careful to think in terms of plants 
which will in the end be suitable for a particular house and for a particular situa- 
tion. He should determine the approximate quantity of evergreens necessary to 
make a setting that is in character with the house under consideration, and he 
should decide upon the amount of care he can give the plants in the yard, 
especially if herbaceous plants are to be included. Thus in a general way the 
proportions of evergreen, deciduous, and garden plants, or any others materially 
affecting the final appearance or the cost of upkeep, should be determined. Start- 
ing with a correct estimate of the essentials of the planting and of all requirements 
called for by the general scheme and with an understanding of what is suitable, 
one should carefully adhere both to his premise and to the intelligent application 
of planning principles. The planting in a yard should not look more pretentious 



16 

than the house. The house and yard should rather appear to belong to one an- 
other, both in plan and in general aspect. 

A broad effect of greenery should always predominate, even during the season 
of flowers. If the scheme is confined to simpHfied and uncomplex effects, a more 
general beauty will result. It is not possible to include in a small yard the great 
variety of features or the varied scenic effects which are possible in the space of 
larger yards. It is possible, however, by simple means, to so plan and plant small 
yards as to give them a distinctive style and beauty. They may have a homelike 
and attractive appearance, and be fully as interesting as are large residences. 
But small homes are intrinsically different from large ones, and their beauty, to 
be satisfactory, must therefore also be a different beauty, and their own. 



( 



I 



i 



